Hidden Secrets, Secret Destinies
by MariNoir
Summary: Everyone has secrets, but sometimes you just have to let the cat out of the proverbial bag. Hermione discovers secrets about her past while Harry's working on secrets about himself. And what does Draco Malfoy have to do with this? And what's up with Ron?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Just to warn everyone this story will have both slash and het relationships featured prominently. If you don't like that please don't read. Also, this story is highly AU (obviously, lol) and there will be a lot of OOC as a result.

Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of this story other than the plot. The characters and setting and whatnot all come from the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling.

Hermione sighed as she walked down the steps from the girl's dormitory into the common room. Harry and Ron were already seated in front of the fire, playing a game of wizard's chess.

As she made her way over to them, Ron looked up, fixing her with a bright smile. "Oi, 'Mione! Better get over here and help Harry, he's about to lose big time!" Ron grinned wickedly, and Hermione smiled back.

"I'd help him out, but why bother? He's already lost to you about a million times, one more won't hurt." Hermione smirked at Harry, who was busy pouting at her.

"I'm not that bad Hermione… Ron's just great at chess! How am I supposed to beat that!" Harry's face was still locked in a pout, but Hermione could see the laughter in his eyes.

"What do you guys say about skipping the rest of the game, after all the end is a foregone conclusion, and going down for breakfast? I want to get to the library before class today."

Harry and Ron exchanged looks that said 'when do you ever not want to go to the library' but they both nodded and stood up. Harry raised his arms over his head, stretching in a cat-like manner.

"Ow!" He cried, doubling over and sinking to the floor. Hermione rushed over to him, careful not to touch him in any way.

"What is it Harry?" she asked in a concerned whisper, trying not to attract the attention of the other students in the common room. "Do you think… is it your mate? Or your scar?… is it Voldemort?"

Harry seemed to be trying to get the pain under control, taking deep breaths. "Its my mate, I think. I… I think that they may be turning 16 soon, maybe in a day or two. I can feel my wings wanting to come out, and all the research I've done says that that won't happen until my mate is of the age to bond."

Hermione looked thoughtful for a minute. "Oh my, Harry _my_ birthday is in two days… you don't think…" Hermione trailed off as Ron began sputtering.

"But… but Hermione there's no way you're Harry's mate! We'd know by now wouldn't we?" Ron's face was a deep shade of red. Hermione sighed inwardly. She knew that Ron liked her, but she just didn't feel the same way. There was something missing from the equation. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew that it was important, and that Ron was just not… it.

Harry shook his head. "It's not you Hermione… though, now that I think of it, its someone who smells somewhat like you." Harry's voice was quiet, and Hermione knew she hadn't been really meant to hear that. She was confused by his words though, as only people who were related smelled similar. Her normally inquisitive nature would have prompted her to ask more questions, but as she began she heard Harry continuing, "I'm glad who ever it is is turning 16 soon though, the bloody Sanguine Season is starting in a month… I really don't want to find out what its like to go through a vampire's mating season without a mate." Harry shuddered at the thought. "I'm still worried though… What if they say no? I don't know what I'd do then. I don't even know them and I already bloody love them! Its all so ridiculous!"

Hermione reached out towards Harry, and deeming that the pain was gone and it would be safe to touch him, she began rubbing his arm. Harry sighed, and stood up.

"Thanks 'Mione, I needed that. But we all better get to breakfast or our little bookworm here will miss her first fix of the day!" Laughing, Harry ran out of the common room, Hermione and Ron right behind him, giggling at their friend's antics.

As they reached the Gryffindor table, the trio were slightly out of breath from running and laughing at the same time. Hermione knew they must have looked pretty silly to the younger students, after all weren't 6th years supposed to look more dignified? Shaking her head, she mentally resigned herself to the fact that now that Voldemort was gone, Harry needed to relive a few parts of the childhood that he had missed out on. It really was too bad that he had the problem of being a natural born vampire and thus needing a mate to deal with. It would be hard for him to remain with any semblance of being a child when he had to bond with someone… and not in a friendship sense.

Hermione let her thoughts wander, vaguely hearing Harry and Ron discussing the Quidditch match that would be held in two weeks time. She couldn't help but turn her thoughts to the night that Harry had finally defeated Voldemort.

It had been over the summer, right before they began 6th year, and she and Harry had gone to stay at the Weasley's. Afterwards, Harry had joked that Voldemort had lost because he broke the pattern that they had been following since Harry was eleven. Voldemort was supposed to wait until the end of the school year to attack, then Harry would escape with only his life, and Dumbledore would explain as vaguely as possible what had actually happened.

Instead, Voldemort had attacked the Burrow, not realizing that every member of the Order of the Phoenix had gathered there for an end of the summer party. Harry had very recently come into his inheritance as a vampire, and with that his natural magic potential had increased. Voldemort had stood before them with every intention of killing Harry, but Harry had dodged every curse thrown his way with preternatural speed. He had remained on the defensive for a while, but once Voldemort sent out a killing curse that missed Harry and hit a very unlucky Moody, who had just finished off another Death Eater, Harry had become enraged.

In fact, that was the first time that Hermione had every seen a vampire enter Blood Rage. Harry had just seen one of his friends murdered, and the vampire in him had completely taken over. His eyes had become a dark, blood red and his hair had stood on end, as if charged by electricity. Harry began rapidly firing curses. Voldemort, however, did not have the added bonus of being a vampire, and each curse had hit him, making him slightly weaker. First a slashing hex, then a crucio, and finally the killing curse. Voldemort had screamed in agony before falling to the floor writhing. Harry, eyes still red, had stood over him and cast the incendio curse, burning up Voldemort's body till only a pile of ash remained.

Hermione had looked around the room. She was not the only starring at Harry. The Death Eaters had either run, or were lying dead or bound on the floor. She had noticed with a slight pang of regret that Lucius Malfoy was not among them, but hey, who was she to complain? Voldemort was finally gone.

Harry had fallen to the floor as the Blood Rage left him, and had remained in a coma for a week and a half, effectively missing the first week of school. But he was alive, and that was all that mattered.

Hermione started, hearing a voice calling to her. "Cyrna! Cyrna!" She glanced around the room, but didn't see anyone. And why had that voice called her Cyrna? For that matter, why was she so certain that the voice was calling to her? She heard the voice again, this time louder and more insistent, and Hermione lost the ability to move. Pain engulfed her body as a bright golden glow surrounded her. Distantly she hear Harry and Ron calling out to her, asking what was wrong but she couldn't answer. All she felt was pain, and as she finally succumbed and made her way into unconsciousness she heard a voice whisper, "Cyrna Elizabetha Malfoy".

The hall was in an uproar. Harry and Ron stared helplessly as their friend began to fall backwards. Thankfully, Harry had the presence of mind to reach out and grab Hermione before she hit the floor, and as he lowered her to the ground he looked carefully at his friend.

Hermione was different. Her once bushy brown hair was now long and blond, falling all the way down her back. Her skin as a delicate cream color, and her face was thinner, more delicate.

Looking up in confusion he realized that Dumbledore had made his way over to them, Snape was surprisingly at his side. "Ms. Granger?" the headmaster called gently.

Snape glanced at the girl on the floor and then over at the Slytherin table, where his godson Draco was sitting. Smirking, Snape replied, "I don't think you can call her that anymore Albus."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Hermione moaned softly as the pain came back into focus. Fortunately, the pain was quite dull compared to the sharpness from… well it might have been yesterday, but in some part of her mind she realized that she had no idea how long she had been unconscious.

Timidly, Hermione opened her eyes, waiting for the light to blind her. Luckily for her, the lights were quite low, giving of just enough light for her to see the other people in the room. She was quite surprised when she saw that in addition to Harry and Ron, who she had fully expected to see there, Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco Malfoy were also there.

"wha…" Hermione croaked, belatedly realizing that her throat was very dry. In an instant everyone in the room was staring at her as Madame Pomfrey bustled over to the bed with a glass of water in her hands.

"shh, child wait till you've had something to drink, then everyone will explain what's happened to you," She said soothingly. She put the glass to Hermione's lips, effectively blocking the Malfoy's from Hermione's view, which prevented her from seeing the worried expression on Narcissa's face.

Dutifully, Hermione swallowed the water and then several potions before she was allowed to lay back down. As the pain that she had been feeling dulled ever further, she returned her attention to the other occupants of the room.

"Not to be rude or anything, but what are the three of you doing here?" Hermione asked quietly, fixing Lucius with her gaze.

"'Mione, are you sure you feel up to talking?" Ron asked softly, eyes filled with worry.

"I told you boy, that you are not to call her that name again!" Lucius said quietly, but not without a little venom in his voice.

Hermione was incredibly surprised by this reaction, and did not understand at all. "'Mione is just a nickname, short for Hermione which is in fact my name, if you don't remember, sir."

Lucius fixed his eyes on her, but he was not the one who answered, Narcissa was. "Dear, Hermione is not your name. Your name is Cyrna." Hermione's eyes flew wide open. That was the name she had heard right before the pain had hit her.

"Cyrna Elizabetha Malfoy" she whispered to herself, though everyone in the room heard it.

"That's right." Lucius said, his voice much softer. "That is your name, and I'm afraid we have a bit of explaining to do." He paused, exchanging a look with his wife before continuing. "You see, Draco here is not an only child. In fact, her had a twin sister. The problem was, the girl was born before him, which would have made her the heir. In pureblood families, its considered a kind of disgrace to have a son that is not the heir… in fact many families get rid of their daughters if they have a son soon after. I, we did not want to lose our daughter, but my father was a traditionalist. He would not accept her. Not when there was Draco… so he took her from us, casting an adoption spell that could only be broken with his death, and sent her to live with a muggle family that he knew, though I'm not sure what the relationship between them was." Lucius stopped at this point, looking, well sadness and anger were the only emotions that Hermione could see on his face.

Narcissa continued where he had left off, "My father-in-law died yesterday morning, and at that moment the adoption charm on our daughter fell off. She changed to look like the daughter she should have been to us, which I'm told is quite painful, and she was immediately recognized by a close friend of the family, who called us to run a paternity charm. It was all confirmed, and I'm happy to say that the paperwork was completed to bring her back to us. She is our daughter again, and I can only regret that I'm just now going to get to know her… I always wanted a little girl. I was heartbroken when I lost her, but my wretched father-in-law never told me who she had been placed with. I had no clue at all my darling, that you were mine until yesterday. I know this must be hard but I love you so much my Cyrna," Narcissa's eyes were filled with tears as she finished speaking, waiting for her daughter to tell her how much she hated them.

'Hmm… perhaps I should start thinking of my self as Cyrna now… I always knew that I was adopted, thank Merlin my par- the Grangers told me that, and I can see in their faces how much they really care about me.' Cyrna looked closely at them before replying, " I knew the Grangers adopted me. They were very upfront with the fact that I was not theirs after I started showing signs of magic. They only told me that my parents were magical though… partly why I was always so defensive about being called a MudBlood," she shot a smirk at Draco. "It'll take some time… but I think that eventually we could be a real family." Her parents stared at her in shock for a moment before her mother came over and threw her arms around her.

"Thank-you my darling" She whispered in her daughter's ear. "You'll never know how much this means to me."

Cyrna turned to look at Harry and Ron, both of whom were sitting looking rather shell shocked. Smirking at the expressions on their faces she said, "Well boys, how much do you hate me now that I'm a Malfoy? I should warn the two of you that it is Hogwarts policy to resort any student on whom an adoption charm has been lifted during their time at the school… I can't guarantee that the sorting hat will place me in Gryffindor again." Cyrna kept smirking, but deep down she was worried that the boys really wouldn't accept this.

Harry smirked back at her. "Well, I suppose if you get resorted into Slytherin, as I dare say you might based on that lovely Malfoy smirk gracing your face, than I could always ask for a resorting and join you. It is, after all, where the hat wanted me to be in the first place." Every face in the room was now staring at Harry in shock. Lucius was the first to recover.

"You're kidding right? There's no way you could convince the hat not to sort you were it wanted you. That hat is spelled not to listen to the children so that it can put them where they will get the attention they need." he said shock and disbelief plainly evident in his voice.

"well," Harry said embarrassedly, "I, um, actually did convince the hat not to pt me in Slytherin… I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to." Ron, meanwhile, was looking back and forth between his two 'friends'.

"I don't know either of you at all do I? And now you're both going to leave me behind for Slytherin," Ron said, voice filled with disgust. "I can't believe that I was friends with the likes of you!" Ron ran out of the room, and Cyrna audibly sighed.

"Don't worry, he'll come around eventually," Harry said softly. "I know this can't be easy but I do know what its like to have a bit of your past thrown in your face… " he hinted. Cyrna realized he was right, finding out that one was a vampire was quite a bit more shocking than this.

"Mr. Potter," Lucius began, "would you mind leaving me and my family for a while, we need some time to discuss the twins' birthday arrangements, as they both turn 16 tomorrow."

Harry smiled easily, his eyes ghosting over Draco, 'Hmm.. I wonder what _that_ is about…" Cyrna wondered, as Harry came over to her and gave her a brief hug and headed out of the hospital wing.

With Harry gone, Cyrna returned her attention to her parents and Draco. Comprehension dawned on her. She had a brother, a twin, and that brother happened to be the one who had constantly teased her and tortured her friends. She saw no malice in his eyes now, but she had to wonder if this revelation could truly change everything. Draco had been a lot nicer to them after Voldemort's defeat. Perhaps his attitude had been an act to convince the Slytherins that he was on their side… an article that he had read in the newspaper right after the last battle suddenly slammed itself into the forefront of her mind. Thanks to information revealed by Lucius Malfoy… her memory trailed off. Her family had been spying! For some reason, her heart felt much lighter at this realization. Cyrna smiled to herself before realizing that her father was trying to get her attention.

"Cyrna," he began. "I mentioned to Harry before he left that you and Draco will be turning 16 tomorrow, and while there is going to be a party for both of you here at the school, there is something that we must reveal to you about your heritage before we can celebrate properly." Lucius looked distinctly worried, and Narcissa was not looking much better. Draco was the only one in the room who managed to keep his features schooled, and Cyrna gathered that he already knew what they were about to say.

"My heritage?" Cyrna was completely baffled by this. Not that she would ever admit that.. She did, after all, have her reputation as a know-it-all to uphold.

"Yes. You see, many pureblood families have intermarried with magical creatures. It keeps the levels of magic in the children high, and lowers any tendency towards having a squib in the family." Lucius answered calmly.

Cyrna knew this, how else would Harry have been part vampire? And he had come into his inheritance this year… on his 16th birthday. Oh my! Cyrna's eyes immediately widened. "Do you mean to tell me that the Malfoy's have some sort creature blood?"

"Well, yes" Narcissa replied, "for many generation the Malfoy's have been part veela. In fact, Lucius' mother was a full veela. Which means that you and Draco are both over half veela, as I do have a bit of veela on my side of the family." Cyrna simply stared as she digested this piece of information. Not only did she have a completely knew family all in one day, but now she was finding out that she wasn't technically a full-blooded human. She might have been shocked, but somehow she knew that this made sense. It also explained why she felt so strongly that Ron was wrong for her. She had heard other girls in her year talking about guys, and she knew for a fact that most of them would go out with any guy who was even remotely good looking. But looks had never really mattered to her, at least not enough to get her to go out with Ron, though she did admit that he was rather cute. For some reason she just knew that he wasn't the one for her.

"I guess, I can believe that… Mother," Cyrna said, blushing at the term. She wasn't sure yet what she was supposed to call them, but when she looked at Narcissa's joy-filled face, she guessed that Mother was ok.

"Cyrna, what do you know about Veela?" her father asked patiently.

"Father, not exactly the best question to ask, she'll bloody know everything about them and spout of a complete history!" Draco replied smugly.

"Draco! Language!" Narcissa admonished.

Cyrna shot Draco a scathing glare before answering her father, "Well, I know that veela exert a charm that they can use to attract people, and that they can control to a certain extent. Most people would do anything a veela told them to when under the influence of the charm, but its main purpose is to attract the veela's mate. The one that they are destined to be with. Its said that the veela can never be happy unless they are with that one person, and if they are unable to find them within a few months of their inheritance, it is likely that the veela in question will die." Cyrna looked between her two parents, who were looking fondly at each other. "So, I guess that means that the two of you are mates?" she asked shyly.

"Yes," Lucius answered, returning his gaze to her. "You know a sufficient amount about veela, but suffice it to say that as you will be coming into your inheritance tomorrow, you shall find out that there are some important things about the transformation that you've left out. And, of course, you will have a mate as well. The veela is able to smell their mate, and while each veela will smell something different, it is said that what they smell will seem like heaven to them. IF they are truly your mate, you will know. I can't completely explain it, but there is an overwhelming sense that being with that person is right."

Cyrna smiled, she had already experienced some of those feelings, though they had all been negative as to the presence of her mate. She was going to have to do a bit of research to discover her mate's identity, something that she was indeed looking forward to. A frown crossed her face as she realized her father had mentioned something about a transformation.

"A transformation? I thought veela's looked human?" She asked worriedly.

"Oh they do," her mother assured her. "most of the time, but I'm sure you've seen full fledged veela turn into bird-like creatures before? Well, part veela grow wings only." Cyrna was immediately relieved. Wings she could handle.

"Well," Lucius began, glancing at his watch, "it is growing rather late, and tomorrow shall be a very busy day. You and Draco were born at 9 at night, so that is when the transformation shall take place. Tomorrow morning I shall arrange a resorting for you and Harry, should he still desire one, to take place at breakfast. Your party will commence at dinner time, though you and Draco will be brought to the family chambers that Narcissa and I are staying in at the moment at around 8:30 to prepare you for the transformation." Lucius leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I love you, my daughter, and I can only hope that we can be a true family soon." After Narcissa had likewise hugged her daughter, the two swept from the room, leaving Draco behind.

"So…" Draco began uncertainly. "I never knew you were my sister you know." He looked rather sheepish. "I wouldn't have treated you like that if I had known… and I swear if you ever tell anyone this I'll hex you good, twin sister or no, but I guess I was jealous." Draco glared at her, as if daring her to make fun of him for feeling such a human emotion, when she said nothing he continued. "I don't know… its just Ha-Potter refused to be my friend, and then all of a sudden you were never apart from him or Weasley, and then on top of that you beat me in every sodding class! I just… wanted what you had, I guess."

"Draco, I won't pretend that it'll be easy… but you really have been a lot better since Voldemort was vanquished, and well, I think I can get over getting called a couple names. Besides, I got my revenge in third year, when I punched you," Cyrna said, smirking wickedly.

"Ah, what a Malfoy thing to say!" Draco said, almost proudly. "Maybe you won't be as big an embarrassment to the family as I thought that you would," smirking back at her.

"Well, I suppose that I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast! And don't you dare get resorted back into Gryffindor. Malfoy's don't do red and gold." Draco shuddered comically, and Cyrna laughed as he left the room.

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow won't we?" she asked herself quietly as she drifted off into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Cyrna's first thoughts upon waking the next morning were 'Where the bloody hell am I?' followed closely by a 'oh right, hospital wing'. Thoughts swirled about in her head as she remembered all that had occurred the previous day… along with all that was to occur today. She couldn't help but be slightly afraid, there was an awful lot that could go wrong with this situation…

Slowly, Cyrna opened her eyes, glancing about the white room. She had expected to see Lucius or Narcissa waiting for her, but instead Harry was sitting in a chair by her bed, reading a book with the title "So you're a vampire: How to get through eternity with one person" written across the front in big block letters.

Harry glanced up from his book and gave her a cheeky grin. "So, Cyrna ready to go get resorted?" Cyrna shook her head, Harry had a habit of trying to make everyone' burdens easier. Probably because of that blasted war with Voldemort. If anyone understood how hard life could be it was Harry.

"I suppose so," she replied thoughtfully, reaching a hand back to run through her hair for the first time. It was then that she realized that it wasn't exactly her hair. For one thing it was quite smooth and straight, rather than the tangled mess that it usually was, and for another it was quite a bit longer so that she was actually laying on top of most of it. Pulling a handful of it out from underneath her back she saw that it was the pale blond hair that seemed to belong to every member of the Malfoy family. Well, what had she expected? They had told her that the adoption charm had been taken off. Keeping her old looks wasn't an option anymore.

Cyrna turned back to Harry. "So… can you even tell that I'm _me_ anymore?" Harry smirked at her.

"I can tell who you are without looking at you at all, you still smell the same after all," He replied. "But, I guess no one else would really know. You look quite a bit like Narcissa now, as much as Draco looks like Lucius." Cyrna noticed with a satisfied smirk that as he mentioned Draco, Harry's eyes misted over slightly. He may not have known who his mate was, but she was pretty sure that all the signs pointed to one specific person. And if she was right, which she _always_ was, than his mate would be turning 16 at precisely 9 this evening.

Glancing at the other chair next to her bed, Cyrna noticed that someone had left clothes for her. Seeing where her glance has headed Harry spoke up, "Your mother dropped those off for you earlier. I think she was going to hang around to wait till you woke up, but when she saw me here she said that she'd meet you down in Great Hall for the resorting. She looked worried, I think she might be nervous that now that you've had a chance to think the situation over you'll decide that you don't want them as parents." Cyrna nodded slowly. It made sense that they'd be worried. SO much had changed in such a small amount of time… she wasn't really sure how things would proceed.

Sighing, she returned her attention to Harry. "I better go get dressed then. Assess the full extent of the damage, so to speak." Harry laughed lightly as Cyrna left the room to change. She stopped briefly to look at herself in the mirror. Her long blonde hair fell all the way down her back. Large blue eyes were a prominent feature on her face. Her overall bone structure was quite different. She was slightly taller, and while she had always been thin, she now seemed more slender, which gave her body a graceful and elegant look. "I really am a Malfoy…" She whispered.

Shaking her head she continued dressing before heading out back into the hospital wing where Harry was back to reading his book. "Looks like now that Hermione's gone you're trying to become the next Gryffindor book-worm" She smirked.

Harry's answering smirk was somewhat evil, "Hey, we all know that I'm the smartest one in Gryffindor after you What are they going to do without the two of us, huh?"

Cyrna scoffed, "smartest my arse. I have to force you and Ron to study!"

"That's just because the knowledge comes to me naturally, I don't need to spend all of my time studying." Harry replied indignantly.

"Oh, I'm sure it does Harry dear, you just remind yourself of that when the NEWTS roll around next year, and don't come to me begging for help then!" Cyrna replied in a mock serious voice.

Harry just shook his head and walked over to the door, bowing deeply as he said, "Ladies first." Smirking, Cyrna walked out of the room, her nose in the air. At least she knew that she'd never lose Harry as a friend. If he could handle her being a Malfoy than he could certainly handle her being a veela, especially since he was a vampire. But she didn't want to tell him yet… it would be much more fun to let him find out from her brother. Oh yes, this year was going to be quite a bit of fun!

Cyrna and Harry walked into the Great Hall, and immediately their eyes went to the Slytherin table where the Malfoy's were sitting together, waiting for them. Cyrna took a breath and mentally calmed herself, 'Don't panic. Even if you aren't put in Slytherin, it doesn't matter… though not being put in Slytherin seems very unlikely.' Cyrna fixed her family with the patented Malfoy smirk and made her way to the head table, Harry still at her side.

"Ah, Ms. Malfoy, Mr. Potter I believe a resorting is in order?" Dumbledore asked politely, the twinkle in his eyes at full blast. The teenagers nodded, and Dumbledore gave Professor McGonagall a look which seemed to give her some sort of instruction, as she immediately rushed out of the hall, coming back rather quickly with the sorting hat and the usual stool.

"Ms. Malfoy, if you'd just take a seat, I believe you know the procedure?" McGonagall instructed. Taking another deep breath, Cyrna sat on the stool, to have her eyes immediately covered by the sorting hat. As its brim slid down over her face she saw that every student in the hall was staring at her in wonder. As the hat began speaking she could vaguely hear Dumbledore introducing her and explaining the situation, but she quickly tuned that out as she listened to the hat's musings.

'Hmm… Wonderful mind quite a bit of bravery, but caution, and a great deal of cunning… I must say that I'm not surprised to see you again Ms. Malfoy, I had a feeling a detail about you was being hidden from me. Dear dear, you definitely do not belong in Gryffindor… and a no to Hufflepuff as well, though that's not surprising considering the family that you come from. I'd say Ravenclaw or Slytherin would be the best, but where to put you…'

Cyrna listened with rapt attention, this was quite different from her previous sorting, where the hat hadn't spoken to her at all, and merely called our Gryffindor after a few seconds. 'It must seem like an incredibly long time to the people watching' she thought.

Turning her attention back to the hat, she thought to it, "I really don't think Ravenclaw is right for me. I do love to learn, but when it comes down to it there are some things more important than books."

'Not Ravenclaw, eh? Well, than I better put you with your family in,' "Slytherin". Cyrna heard the last word echo through the hall, which was absolutely silent as the hat was plucked off her head. It didn't seem like McGonagall really appreciated losing one of her best students. As she stood up from the stool, the students began clapping, her parents beaming at her with pride.

Cyrna smirked, the students were in for a surprise, as it wasn't over yet. "Harry, going to eat your words? Or are you going to join the 'elite' in Slytherin?" she asked, mirth flowing through her words.

Harry wasn't phased at all, instead he smirked back at his best friend, "I'm more Slytherin than you Cyr, so you better watch out!" Harry sat down on the stool, ready to once again confront the hat.

'Back again Potter? Hmm… this time to be resorted. Finally admitting that Gryffindor is not for you?'

'Now that you mention it yes,' Harry thought back. 'For a long time I thought being a Slytherin was the equivalent of being a Death Eater, but I know better now, and I guess I'm hoping that the people who are still prejudiced against Slytherin even though the war is over will loosen up a bit if their 'savior' is part of that house.'

'Very Slytherin indeed trying to play up to an idea you know I support to get me to put you in the house you want. You're lucky the tactic matched the house or I wouldn't be doing this but,' "Slytherin".

If Cyrna had believed that the hall was silent when she was placed in Slytherin she was mistaken, as now it was absolutely dead. To lose Hermione Granger, who was in reality a Malfoy after all, to Slytherin was strange. But to have Harry Potter, enemy of all things evil (and Slytherin!) sorted there was a completely different story. McGonagall looked as if she was going to cry. Her two best students resorted into the house that so often threatened to best her own! There was no way Gryffindor was going to get the house cup now!

Harry was unfazed by the silence. Instead, he stood up and gave Cyrna a rather large hug, whispering in her ear, "I told you!" The two new Slytherins made their way through the still recovering Hall to their new table.

"Cyrna, welcome to Slytherin," Draco said, smirking up a storm. "The look the two of you put on McGonagall's face was simply priceless! I don't think she'll ever get over the disappointment of losing the house cup to Slytherin!" Cyrna and Harry smiled at each other and sat down.

Lucius smirked at his son, "I think that Severus may have been the only one that was more surprised. Cyrna he expected to be put in Slytherin, but Harry Potter? Gryffindor Golden Boy? In his house? I expect he shall never recover from the shock!" At this the entire table burst out into laughter and glanced at Snape, who did indeed look as if he'd just swallowed an especially sour piece of lemon.

Narcissa turned back to face her daughter, "Cyrna what are your plans for the day?"

Cyrna smiled shyly at her mother, "I haven't really thought about it to tell you the truth. I was kind of focusing in on the um, events planned for later this evening, and I hadn't really thought about getting there."

"Speaking of tonight, do you have anything to wear? Its kind of last minute to get party attire, but I'm sure we could find something for you in the village. It would give us a little bit of time to spend together as a family." Narcissa smiled warmly, hoping that her daughter would be receptive to the idea of shopping as it was one of her favorite pastimes.

"I'd really like that… I honestly can't remember having anything in my trunk suitable for a party. In fact, I only have that one set of dress robes from fourth year, and I doubt they'd fit. Honestly, I doubt any of my clothes would fit right now."

"That's fine, gives us an excuse to get you a whole new wardrobe!" Narcissa inwardly cheered at the prospect.

Cyrna's face colored slightly, "You don't have to buy me anything… I don't want to be a bother."

"Nonsense, you are our daughter. Of course we must buy you new clothes, Taking care of your needs is something that we should have been doing for years. Thanks to that good for nothing father of mine we haven't, and I for one intend to make it up to you!" Lucius answered quietly, but with a tone of finality in his voice that no one would dare to argue.

"Well, then thank you, that sounds wonderful." Cyrna replied, somewhat flustered. They really did care about her. They wanted to be a family with her. They'd said it before, but somehow their showing their desire to care for her just made everything seem so much more real.

The family continued to eat their breakfast in silence, and Cyrna stole a glance at Harry. He was intently staring at Draco, and desperately trying to hide it. 'Oh yes,' Cyrna thought, 'There will most definitely be some changes around here in the next few days!'


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

After breakfast, the family headed back to their rooms, with plans to meet in the Hall in an hour to head into Hogsmeade. Cyrna sighed slightly as she began to head towards the hospital wing. No one had told her where she would be living in the future so she didn't know where else to go. It wasn't like she could just head back to Gryffindor tower.

"Hey, Cyrna! Wait up!" Harry called. "Where are you going?"

"I was just going to go to the hospital wing, use the showers there to freshen up before we go out."

Harry looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face for a second before he burst out laughing. At Cyrna's pointed glare, he responded, "Cyr, its not like we can't just go to Slytherin to get ready. Professor Dumbledore just told me that the house elves have moved everything down there already." Harry's eyes shifted slightly, as if he was nervous. "I don't think I'll be rooming down there much longer anyway. Once I find my mate I'll be moving to a different room with him, uh I mean her…" Harry's face was flushed red with embarrassment, and Cyrna inwardly chuckled. Harry had no way of knowing that she already knew perfectly well who his mate was. Harry's face was going to be priceless when he finally figured out who he was meant to be with.

"Harry, its ok. I kind of figured that it might be a guy." Cyrna smirked. She _knew_ it was a guy. But she was definitely not going to make this easy for Harry. Having to find one's own mate was a rite of passage for magical creatures. And besides, she was going to be going through the same things in another day.

Harry perked up at her words, relieved that he was not going to lose his best friend. Cyrna may have become a Malfoy, but she had been raised by muggles, and a vast majority of muggles still looked down on same sex relationships.

"So Harry, do you still remember how to get to the Slytherin common room?" Cyrna smirked.

Chuckling, Harry nodded. "It's been a while, but I don't think I could forget that particular trip. We better hurry though, your family's going to be waiting for you pretty soon."

The two friends made their way down to the dungeon. Harry sighed as he noticed that Cyrna was off in her own little world. He wouldn't admit this to anyone, after all he was a Slytherin now, but he was scared. Not just nervous, but really scared. His entire future depended on his mate. He wouldn't be happy without them, would live a cursed half-life. He had hid a few secrets about vampires from his friends. Not because it as anything too horrible, but because he was mildly embarrassed by what he had discovered.

His wings hadn't appeared on his birthday when he had come into his inheritance. At first he had been confused by this. The books he read all said that the vampire's wings would appear as he reached what was considered majority for a vampire: 16. Unless-- and this is where things got embarrassing-- the vampire was submissive. As in capable of bearing children. He was going to go into the equivalent of heat for vampires (Sanguine Season) and he was going to (more likely than not) become pregnant.

Harry had been quite shocked upon this discovery, and he hadn't had the courage to share it with his friends. Of course, given Ron's current behavior this was probably a good thing, but then again Cyrna had definitely proven herself worthy of the knowledge. Glancing down at his watch, Harry sighed again. He didn't have time to tell her now. She would barely have enough time to get ready before meeting her parents was it was.

That was another thing that surprised him. The fact that he hadn't been surprised that the Hermione he had known for years was really a Malfoy. It just seemed to fit for some reason. The old Hermione had always had a calculating side. And she was the one who came up with the clever schemes… the polygenic potion being only one of many. He had been genuinely happy for Cyrna when he saw the love that the two elder Malfoy's had for their daughter. And then he had glanced over at Draco. Draco had certainly grown up a lot since the first time that they had met. He had become one of the most handsome men that Harry had ever… wait a second! 'Since when do I think that Malfoy is handsome? That stupid, annoying sexy… Argh no! Stop obsessing over him! You have a mate you idiot! No getting attached to anyone else!'

As Harry was chastising himself, Cyrna was watching him out of the corner of her eye. It was quite apparent that Harry was struggling with something, and she had a pretty good idea of what that something was. Looking around at her surroundings and realizing that they had abruptly stopped in front of a stone wall, she turned to Harry. "Harry? Are we here?"

Harry jumped as he heard Cyrna speak. He had not realized when he had become so caught up with his thoughts, but they had indeed reached the Slytherin Common Room. "Yeah," he answered quietly, murmuring a password before stepping into the room. "I think the girl's dorms are over that way, but I've never been up there, so you'll have to ask someone to make sure." Harry smirked. "After all, we've already established that I've got no reason to go up there."

Cyrna could not help but laugh at Harry. She was nervous about the upcoming events of the day, but even still he was able to make her forget everything and just enjoy herself, even if it was only for a short while.

When she had finally regained her composure, she turned to the stairs which led away from the common room. Seeing Pansy just about to head up, she called out to stop her. "Pansy, would you mind showing me where the 6th year dorms are? No one thought to tell me where to go." Cyrna kept her voice polite, unsure of how the Slytherin girl would react.

To her surprise, Pansy smiled at her. "Sure, just follow me. To tell you the truth, I was kind of waiting around to see if you'd need help. I noticed that your family conveniently forgot to mention where the dorms were. To be honest, I think they wanted to force you to interact with some of the Slytherins." Pansy managed to passably imitate a Malfoy smirk. "You know us Slytherins. Always out to manipulate people." Cyrna smiled back at Pansy.

As Hermione, she hadn't really liked the girl, but she could see the humor behind the girl's words. Besides, she seemed to hide her true feelings from outsiders as the rest of the Slytherins did. Cyrna knew that had Voldemort been alive things may have been different, she had, after all, been the best friend to Harry Potter for 5 years. However, Voldie was gone, and that left people to become who they really were. Something that seemed to be occurring a lot at Hogwarts in the recent past. It seemed that everyone was changing, and showing their true colors.

In most cases, this was good, but Ron still hadn't said a word to her. She had noticed the angry scowl on his face as she and Harry were resorted. It would take a lot to convince Ron to be friends with them again, and she wasn't quite sure she wanted to be friends with someone who needed to become convinced.

Pansy lead her up the stairs and showed her to the second door on the landing, which turned out to be the 6th year dorm. "I don't think that you'll be in here for very long, but until you find your mate you'll be staying in here. Unless of course, you decide to stay with your parents while they're here."

Cyrna openly gaped at Pansy. She hadn't even told her best friend about being part-Veela and this girl she had just really met for the first time already knew. "What? Why do you think I have a mate?" Cyrna asked, though she already suspected that she knew the answer to that question.

"I've known Draco since before I can remember. His parents weren't exactly big on keeping it a secret. They told him all about it. Told him not to get attached to anyone, cause even if he fell in love they might not be his mate, and then he'd have to deal with that too. Its why I pretended to be his girlfriend all those years, even though I have a crush on another guy. I just hope he doesn't hate me for 'going out' with Draco, I know that he really doesn't like him." Pansy's smirk faded into a sad smile as she spoke, falling into thoughts about the absolutely adorable boy that had stolen her heart so quickly.

Cyrna was still somewhat shocked. "I'm glad that they're open about it, because after today its going to become pretty obvious. And judging by who I'm pretty sure Draco's mate is, whomever you like will know it was fake." Pansy's eyes light up slightly at this news, and then became somewhat suspicious.

"And how would you know who Draco's mate is? He doesn't even know. And trust me he doesn't, he would have told me."

"I have my ways of knowing. I've been watching how Draco and this particular person interact for quite some time now. I've seen the attraction, and I am still Hermione Granger, however deep down that might be now. I know everything." Cyrna attempted to say this with a straight face, but failed miserably as she again broke into laughter. Pansy looked at her incredulously for a minute and then laughed with her.

"You know, even if it is a Hermione trait to know everything, Malfoy's are never wrong. So tell me, who is this mystery mate? Hmm.. It'd have to be someone really special if it would make R- I mean the guy I like realize that I never had anything going on with Draco." Pansy paused and looked thoughtful. "Wait a second, you're saying that Draco's mate is a guy! I knew that little git was lying to me when he said that he was straight!" Pansy looked rather triumphant, but Cyrna was surprised that she had grasped the fact so quickly. The old Pansy would not have caught on right away, if at all. People really were changing.

"Now now Pansy, I haven't even told Draco who is mate is. Both he and his mate are in denial about it, so I'm certainly not going to spoil the surprise for you. You'll find out when everyone else does." Cyrna smirked as Pansy pouted. "Oh, and Pansy, Ron may be difficult at times, but we've been friends for years so if you really want him I think I may be able to help you."

Pansy was completely taken aback. She hadn't thought that Cyrna had heard her slip up. "Oh, um, er- I mean, thanks." Pansy stuttered.

"Anytime. Now, I better get dressed because I have to be back in the Great Hall in 20 minutes." Smiling to herself, Cyrna headed over to he trunk and began to do just that.

After Cyrna had left, Harry had headed up to his own dorm. He didn't have the luxury of being let out of class for the day to become acquainted with family, and he had only 10 minutes to check out his new dorm if he didn't want to be late for class. At least it was a Friday. Draco's birthday parties were usually quite extensive, and he had no desire to party all night and go to class the next day.

Harry glanced around the room. It was similar enough to the room he had been in in the tower, but the coloring was silver, green, and black instead of the bright red and gold, which he admitted as quite tiring to the eye. This room was soothing.

"Well, well Ha-Potter. It seems as if we will be roommates." Draco drawled, scolding himself for the slip with the name and mentally adding, 'but not for long. I'll only be able to look at that delectable body for another couple of days if all goes well. Wait, did I just think that Harry had a delectable body? NO! I AM NOT GAY! And I am certainly NOT attracted to Harry. NO, focus: You. Have. A. Mate. And all of your Harry staring needs to stop. It will not help when you find your mate not at all.' Draco's thoughts were interrupted by Harry as he replied.

"Never thought this would happen Malfoy, huh?" Harry paused and then continued, "Though maybe we should keep to Harry and Draco. It could get a little confusing, especially since my friend is a Malfoy now, and your parents are here, and probably will be for a while." Draco's heart skipped a beat. Harry really wanted to call him Draco!

"I suppose that would make sense… Harry. We'll probably have to put aside the rivalry anyway. I mean, my sister isn't going to stop being your friend, and I really don't want to alienate her. I just found the twin I've always missed, and I don't want to lose her." 'I can't believe I just told Harry that! Why did I say that!' As Draco mentally beat himself over the head, Harry smiled, incredibly surprised by the normally cold Slytherin's honesty.

"Its ok Draco," Harry said seeing the look on Draco's face. "I won't tell anyone the Slytherin Ice Prince actually has a heart. Your reputation will remain intact. Now, as much as I'd love to continue this conversation, I actually have to get to class. And while we've called a truce I doubt that Snape has. Though, if I'm late he can't really take points as they'd be deducted from his own house." Harry smirked evilly. "That's definitely going to be one of the perks of being a Slytherin." With one last smile, Harry left the room, feeling momentarily sorry that he had to leave Draco behind.

After Harry's departure, Draco merely stared at the door. 'I can't believe that Harry just said that. Maybe he really is a Slytherin.' Shaking his head slightly, Draco too headed out of the room to meet his family. Rooming with Harry Potter was certainly going to be interesting.

When Cyrna finally made her way down to the Great Hall, her parents and her brother were already waiting. "Mother, Father, Draco its good to see you again, without the interference of others that is." Cyrna smiled warmly at her new family and was rewarded with smiles in return, even from Draco.

"Its good to see you again as well darling. Now, are you ready to get some shopping done? I want to make sure we have enough time to get everything that you'll need." Narcissa replied.

Smiling brightly at the prospect of shopping with her mother Cyrna replied, "I am ready, though I must admit that part of me doesn't want to miss potions this morning. We're going to miss the first class where Professor Snape has Harry. Its going to be interesting to see if he can remember that taking points means taking them from his own house." Cyrna laughed lightly and her family joined in.

"It certainly is an interesting thing to miss, perhaps we should make a detour to say hello to Severus. He hasn't as yet had the opportunity to speak to his god-daughter." Lucius said, smirking at the prospect.

"I didn't know he was my god-father." Cyrna murmured.

Draco was the one to answer her, "Actually he's mine too. I guess we forgot to tell you. He was planning on speaking to you at the party tonight. I know he wanted to come talk to you in the infirmary, but we all figured that it might be better to give you a little time to adjust before throwing your most hated professor in your face."

"I guess I probably would have been a little surprised," Cyrna conceded. "But its probably a better idea to just head to Hogsmeade. If Professor Snape is coming to the party we'll see how he reacts to Harry there. I'm sure if anything major happened Harry won't be able to resist holding it over his head just a little." Cyrna smirked. Harry had certainly been letting his Slytherin sense of humor show lately, and she knew if Snape made a fool of himself Harry would tease him as much as possible without risking a detention or point loss… and now that Harry was in Slytherin the risk of that was much less. Suddenly, Cyrna couldn't wait for the party.

Lucius looked slightly disappointed, but he knew that their time was limited. "You're right. We should already be on our way. Shall we leave now?" As the rest of his family nodded, Lucius escorted them out of the Hall and to a horseless carriage that was waiting for them.

The carriage was beautiful. Far nicer than any of the school carriages, and adorned with the Malfoy crest. The inside was far more spacious and luxurious than anything that the school would ever use. Black leather seats on either end of the carriage, with silver trim. The walls a beautiful dark green. Overall, the carriage exuded a sense of calm. Cyrna couldn't help but relax as she took her seat. Being a Malfoy certainly had its distinct advantages.

The family sat quietly in the carriage as it made its way to Hogsmeade. In some families the silence might have been tense, but in this one it was simply comfortable.

Cyrna watched out the window until Hogsmeade came into view. "Where are we going first?" She wondered out loud.

"I thought that we'd get your wardrobe taken care of first then walk around, head into the different shops, make sure that you have everything that you need." Narcissa answered. Cyrna smiled at her mother, and the little family made its way out of the carriage to enjoy their day together.

(A/N: I Could have stopped it there, but I'm feeling generous, so I'm going to continue! Don't you all just love me? You should definitely leave me lots of reviews as a thank you! lol)

Much later, Cyrna and her family arrived back at Hogwarts. They had had all of their new purchases brought to the castle for them. Cyrna had been surprised at the sheer amount that the Malfoys had gotten her. She definitely wouldn't need half as much, but they had insisted, saying that she deserved the best.

It was now time to head down to her birthday party. Her parents had arranged for the party that was originally intended to take place in the Room of Requirement be moved to the Great Hall. The entire school had been invited to celebrate the return of their daughter. Cyrna was looking forward to the party, but slightly reluctant to go, because after the party she was going to become a veela. Apprehension welled up in her heart. Finding her mate… she couldn't feel anything towards them now, but if Harry's behavior was anything to go by she would definitely be feeling something very soon.

Cyrna made a few last adjustments to her new robes. They were exquisite: a dark blue with tiny silver stars sprinkled across the silk material. The color beautifully set off her long blond hair and blue eyes.

Summoning up all of her courage, Cyrna made her way up to the Great Hall. She could hear the sounds of the students partying, dancing to the loud music. It sounded to as if it was the Weird Sisters.

Cyrna shook her head, her parents really wanted to impress her, and make her realize that she was loved. While spending money wasn't the best way to go about this, their constant attentiveness and love was. Cyrna knew that they loved her, and she loved them. She wanted to be a real family, and was quite looking forward to Christmas break when she would be able to go and see her home.

Stepping into the hall, Cyrna sighed. It was wonderful. The ceiling normally set to mirror the night sky was putting on some sort of laser show. There were two large tables; one piled high with gifts, the other with food, which looked quite delicious. A rather large dance floor had been set up, and most of the hall's occupants were currently on it, dancing to the music played by the band, which was indeed the Weird Sisters.

Looking around, Cyrna quickly spotted Harry, who appeared to have been waiting for her by the entrance. "Oy, Cyr! Happy Birthday!" Harry called.

"Thanks Harry." Cyrna answered smiling. "So, how was your first class with Snape? I would have given anything to be there, it must have been quite the show." Cyrna smirked, imaging what the scenario must have been as she watched Harry laugh.

"Oh, it was quite hilarious. Snape didn't quite know what to say. He almost took 20 points from us when I answered a question correctly, but once he realized what he was saying he changed it so they were from Gryffindor. Needless to say, I don't think anyone in Gryffindor was too happy with me. Snape's not going to be able to use me as his scapegoat for taking points anymore."

"Quite right, Mr. Potter. I shall just have to endeavor to find other ways to torture you." Snape smirked, stepping up behind a surprised Harry. "Hello Cyrna, I hope you are having a happy birthday?" Snape asked politely.

"Its been quite nice so far, Professor. My parents have really worked hard to make everything special for me. I truly appreciate all that they've done." Cyrna smiled at he professor, not really knowing what to say to this man who was suddenly so polite.

"I think it might be more appropriate for you to call me Severus when we are outside of the classroom. You are my god-daughter." Snape looked somewhat uncomfortable as he made the request. Cyrna supposed that this was because he had always been so cruel to Hermione. It wasn't as if he could continue in that vein now. Lucius was every bit the overprotective father, and there was no way he'd allow anyone to mistreat his daughter.

Cyrna smiled, hoping to relieve the tension. "Thank-you Severus, I appreciate it." Harry looked somewhat surprised at the exchange, but he did not comment. Most likely because he would have set Snape off if he said anything.

"I'll let you get back to your friends," Severus replied. "Do come and see me if you need help with any of the--" Severus glanced quickly at Harry and Cyrna shook her head no, "changes you may experience. If I can aid you in any way I will." With a small bow and a polite smile, Severus walked away quickly.

"What changes Cyr? You didn't say anything to me." Harry asked somewhat accusingly.

"Oh its nothing. He just meant if I needed help adjusting to my new family, that's all." Cyrna answered, hoping he'd let it go. She wasn't ready to tell him yet. Fortunately for her, Harry only glared at her suspiciously but did not say anything.

The rest of the party passed in a blur. Cyrna only vaguely registered blowing out the candles on the cake with Draco and dancing with her friends. The party was the most fun she had had in a long time, and she didn't want it to end, but the late evening wasn't for her or Draco, it was for her friends. She knew that Harry would wonder where she had gone, but she didn't have time to warn him, as at precisely 8:30 her parents and brother wandered over to her and discreetly escorted her out of the hall.

"How are you feeling darling? No pain or anything?" Lucius asked, using the pet name that had become so common coming from both him and Narcissa.

"Nothing yet Father. But will there be a lot of pain? No one really mentioned anything, but I rather assumed that it would hurt to grow wings." Cyrna didn't mention that she knew for a fact that it hurt from watching Harry was his mate grew closer to majority.

Her parents exchanged a look. "It probably will hurt darling. The wings have to grow out of your back, and no normal pain potion is enough to stop that. But we'll be right on hand with the healing potions, so the pain will be minimal." Her mother answered soothingly.

Cyrna simply nodded. It was as she had suspected, and she knew there was no stopping what was to come, no use complaining.

The family arrived at the guest quarters where separate rooms had been set up for both her and Draco. A sudden realization hit Cyrna. Draco was Harry's mate. She knew it. And Draco was going to be reaching majority in precisely 10 minutes now. And Harry was still at the party. That meant that in 10 minutes the entire party was going to be greeted with the sight of Harry Potter screaming in agony and growing wings. And there was no one there to help him. She hadn't warned him at all! Some friend she was.

Desperate, Cyrna turned to her parents, barely registering the slight pain that ran up and down her back. "He doesn't know!" She cried. "Harry doesn't know what's happening!"

Confused, Lucius replied, "Darling, you can tell him later. He doesn't need to know till after the transformation."

"No! I mean he doesn't know that his mate is going to reach majority in the very near future. How far apart were Draco and I born? There might be time to get him out of there!" Cyrna all but shouted.

Three extremely confused people now stared at Cyrna. "Darling, you were born only a few minutes apart. Your birth was natural, but Draco was in a bad position, so they removed him by magical c-section. I'd say maybe five minutes." Narcissa answered, hoping to calm her daughter.

"You don't understand!" Cyrna wailed, the pain in her back becoming difficult to ignore. "Harry is a vampire, and when his mate reaches majority he grows his wings. And he's in the Great Hall! And I didn't tell him that I knew who his mate was, cause I wanted it to be a surprise, but I didn't realize until now that while Draco and I were transforming here in the safety of our rooms, he'd be transforming in the great hall, with no one to help him. It will be completely unexpected." Cyrna ranted. "And this bloody _hurts_!" she cursed as the pain became more intense.

Her parents were simply gaping at her she cringed. Lucius finally regained his senses, summoning a house elf. "You! Quickly, go to the great hall and get Harry Potter. Bring him here immediately, no matter what he says. Tell him that Cyrna needs him now."

Draco, meanwhile, turned to his sister. "Are you saying that Harry is my mate? And how the bloody hell would you know that?" Draco cursed inwardly as he felt the pain rippling up and down his back. He wanted this entire mess to be over with so he could have his beautiful wings and not worry about the pain anymore. He hadn't expected to find his mate quite so quickly. Hell, he hadn't even turned yet and here his sister was revealing who he was destined to be with.

"I know the signs. I've read the books on mates, and I've seen the way that you too look at each other, the way you've interacted. You've always been drawn to each other, always. Plus, before I found out that we were related Harry told me that while I wasn't his mate, someone who smelled like me was. I didn't understand then, but I do now. You're his mate Draco, and this bloody pain we're both feeling has to have hit him too." Cyrna was almost in tears as she said this. The time was fast approaching 9-o-clock.

Narcissa noticed the pain in her daughters eyes, and she gently led her to he bedroom. "Hush darling, Harry will be here soon, we'll take care of him too. You just lay down and relax. Its almost time, and all of this will be over soon." Narcissa crooned, helping her daughter lay down on the bed. Cyrna immediately curled up into a ball, and Narcissa left her with a house elf at her side, with instructions that she be called should anything happen.

Upon returning to the common area, Narcissa noticed that her husband had done the same to Draco. "Lucius, how is Draco?" Narcissa asked, more than a little worried about how Draco would take news of his mate.

"Honestly, he's in shock, though he seems somewhat pleased. I think its simply too much to take in on top of the pain. He may be five minutes behind Cyrna, but I bet she's been feeling some pain for almost a half hour, so that doesn't mean much. I just hope that blasted elf makes it back with Harry before its too late." Lucius answered, mouth set in a grim line.

A sudden pop startled the two Malfoys, who, upon turning, saw a disgruntled looking Harry Potter being pulled towards them by a rather overzealous elf.

"I'm here now Dobby, so would you kindly let go of me! This bloody hurts my back, which doesn't need anymore pain at the moment!" Harry yelled.

The Malfoys exchanged a look. It appeared that their daughter was correct. It seemed wonders would never cease. Two thirds of the Golden Trio was definitely destined to be part of their family. Lucius looked at his wife and shrugged his shoulders. At least the boy had defeated Voldemort, this whole situation would have been a lot worse otherwise.

A/N::cackles: you'll all have to wait till the next chapter to find out what happens. This is the longest chapter that I've ever written, so you should all be satisfied. I should be able to update in the next day or so, but only if I get enough reviews to inspire me! Please tell me what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: This chapter doesn't quite meet my standards but I'm posting it anyway to be nice and get rid of the cliffhanger from last chapter... Though you may all hate me at the end of this chapter... Just remember if you kill me, you'll never find out what happens next!

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Last Chapter: A sudden pop startled the two Malfoys, who, upon turning, saw a disgruntled looking Harry Potter being pulled towards them by a rather overzealous elf.

"I'm here now Dobby, so would you kindly let go of me! This bloody hurts my back, which doesn't need anymore pain at the moment!" Harry yelled.

The Malfoys exchanged a look. It appeared that their daughter was correct. It seemed wonders would never cease. Two thirds of the Golden Trio was definitely destined to be part of their family. Lucius looked at his wife and shrugged his shoulders. At least the boy had defeated Voldemort, this whole situation would have been a lot worse otherwise.

Narcissa stepped forward, "Dobby, you may release Harry." Harry turned to the Malfoy's, a stunned expression on his face.

"Why did you have Dobby bring me here? And why aren't you at the party? And where is Cyrna? I couldn't find her anywhere, and then Dobby showed up claiming that I must go with him immediately because she needed me, and--"

Harry was cut off as screams filled the air. He paled visibly, still panting in pain himself, as he recognized the source of the scream. "Oh Merlin, what are you doing to her? I thought you loved her! I thought you wanted a family!" Harry began to lunge at the startled Malfoys but stopped as another wave of pain washed over him.

Narcissa was torn between helping this young man and going to her daughter, who --according to the clock-- was turning at that very minute.

Lucius seemed to since her inner turmoil, as he said softly, "I'll go help her, you stay and help Harry and Draco. I'm not certain, but I believe that this may help them with their transformation. If they are together the pain should lessen a great deal." Lucius swept out of the room and Narcissa walked quickly to Harry.

"Harry, relax and try to breathe through the pain, and I'll explain everything." Harry nodded and visibly relaxed, sinking to the floor and taking deep gulps of air. "I don't think Cyrna ever told you, but the Malfoys have veela blood. Both of our children were to come into their inheritance as a magical creature on their birthday, at the exact moment of their birth. Cyrna is currently in the process, and Draco will begin in a few minutes. We had planned to bring the children back to our quarters during the party to aid them with the change, but upon our arrival here Cyrna became rather distressed, claiming that as Draco's mate you were going to go through your transformation too, and you were unprepared for it, not to mention in the Great Hall where everyone would be able to see."

Harry looked startled. "Draco is my mate? But how did she know?"

"I am almost possible that she is correct, Harry, and you know as well as I how clever my daughter is. She saw signs that even you missed." Narcissa answered, smiling gently. Her smile was quickly wiped away, however, as Harry began to moan and whimper in pain. "Harry, we have to get you to Draco." Narcissa said With a whispered Mobili corpus, Harry rose into the air and followed her into Draco's room.

Draco was writhing on the bed. His transformation was beginning. Narcissa sighed and brought Harry to him. "Darling, we brought Harry here, I don't know if you can understand through the pain, but he's not doing well, and I think maybe if you-" Narcissa was cut off as her hand was brutally brushed away from Harry's forehead, where she had been stroking gently in an attempt to relax him.

Startled, she looked down into vivid silver eyes, full of anger. "Mine" Draco hissed, barely able to speak, but desperate to keep his mate to himself. Narcissa nodded in understanding and backed out of the room. Lucius had been equally as possessive of her when they first met after both had received their inheritances.

Draco turned his eyes to his mate, instinctively knowing what to do. They were meant to go through this together, and only he could ease Harry's pain. Draco ripped Harry's shirt from his body to make room for the wings that were already beginning to rip through. His own shirt had already been taken off. He rolled Harry to his side and they faced each other, arms wrapping around Harry's waist.

Harry was stunned as the haze that had accompanied the vast amount of pain left. He opened his eyes to see Draco peering intently at him. The pain was still there, and he could feel his back ripping, but that did not matter. Nothing mattered in comparison to his mate. He knew now that Cyrna was right. He should have recognized his feelings from the beginning, but it would have been difficult. A submissive vampire was meant to find their mate after their mate had come of age, and not before.

Draco hardly noticed the pain in his back, he was so intent on his mate. Harry was the epitome of beauty and perfection to the veela. Nothing would ever tear them apart. Harry was his. "Mine," Draco whispered.

Harry smiled slightly, "yours" he hissed out as the pain increased. Draco leaned forward, and captured Harry's lips in a soft kiss. Both gripped the other tightly as the pain unfurled completely.

Proud black wings stood on Draco's back. They were magnificent, and would be as tall as he was when he stood. Harry's wings were a beautiful dark green. They were quite a bit smaller than Draco's, but looked infinitely softer, and so delicate.

A house elf rushed forward with a tray of potions, and Narcissa, who had been watching from the doorway, re-entered and whispered in Draco's ear that his mate was bleeding and in pain and would only heal if he took these potions. It wasn't quite true, as a vampire healed quickly on its own, but Harry would be in pain without the potions, and Draco did not have the benefit of vampire blood to heal him.

Draco immediately sat up, ignoring his own pain, and helped Harry to drink both a healing potion and a dreamless sleep potion.

His task done, Draco began to lie down again, but Narcissa handed him his own potions and told him sternly that he would drink them if he wanted to be able to see Harry again. At his furious look, Narcissa merely replied, "Honestly Draco, if you don't heal yourself you could die and leave Harry all alone. Now, I know you, and I know that you don't want Harry to go out and find another mate to replace you…" Narcissa trailed off, and she noticed with glee that Draco immediately downed the potions and sank into a deep sleep.

She chuckled softly, it was clear to see that Draco was already in love with his mate, of course once both boys were back to their senses there might be some difficulties, but at the moment they looked too cute together for Narcissa to care, Draco's arms wrapped tightly around Harry and his wings had extended to cover Harry and protect him.

With one last glance, Narcissa swept out of the room to check on her daughter.

Lucius hurried into his daughter's room. Cyrna was lying on her be, curled into the fetal position and whimpering in pain. She was already wearing her Kiangion and her wings were almost completely out, which was a relief. She didn't have her mate yet to take away the pain, or at least to distract from the experience.

Lucius stood close to the bed, watching as with one last burst of magical energy the wings came out completely. They were a beautiful pale gold and gave his daughter the look of an angel. He stared at the wings for a minute, before a rather loud whimper from the bed caught his attention.

"Elf, get those potions over here this instant!" Lucius bellowed, glaring at the house elf in the room, who instantly jumped to obey.

Lucius sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his daughter's shoulder. "Cyrna, I'm going to give you some potions now so you can heal. Everything will be fine when you wake up." He said soothingly.

Cyrna didn't reply, but seemed to understand, as she allowed her self to be sat up. Lucius tipped the potions to her lips and she swallowed dutifully, the pain evident on her face immediately lessening.

When she had taken the potions, Lucius helped her to lay down mostly on her stomach, so the wings wouldn't be in the way. 'I only wish that we hadn't found her so close to her 16th birthday. We just got her, and we already have to watch while she's in pain, and we can't do anything about it!' Lucius shook his head ruefully. He could remember the pain that accompanied one's transformation extremely well. He shuddered. 'At least the pain's only a one time occurrence' he thought. He smiled at his daughter, Cyrna really did look beautiful, but even so he knew that once she woke up things were going to get difficult. 'If Potter really is Draco's mate, that will make things a whole lot easier. I'll only have to help one child find their mate. And if Potter is a vampire as Cyrna claims it will be even easier, because he won't want to refuse the bond. But Cyrna, her mate could still refuse her. We could lose our daughter again!' Lucius wailed in his head. He took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. 'We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.'

A hand on his shoulder jerked Lucius from his reverie. "Darling, did the transformation go alright? How is she?" a worried Narcissa asked.

Turning to his wife, Lucius smiled, putting his fears aside. "She came through beautifully, and took her potions without any fuss. Her wings are beautiful though. Almost the same color as yours, but not quite as dark." Narcissa looked at her daughter, Lucius was right. Narcissa smirked triumphantly, wings that beautiful would make it quite easy for her daughter to seduce her mate.

Lucius broke the silence first. "And Draco? Is Harry Potter truly his mate?" Lucius asked worriedly. If the two weren't meant to be together, though he was almost positive they were, then bringing them together at such a moment could have been disastrous.

Narcissa smiled warmly. "Your son inherited your possessive streak!" she scolded. "He nearly bit my arm off for touching Harry." Narcissa attempted to look stern, but simply couldn't manage it. "They truly are mates though, and quite the beautiful couple. Draco was extremely protective, already showing himself to be the dominant in the relationship, soothing Harry's pain and hiding him with his wings. Any dislike they may have had for each other is gone, though it may take them a while to admit that."

Lucius wrapped his arms around his wife. "I'm happy for him. Still a little surprised, but its not as if we weren't going to see a lot of Harry anyway. I think we may have already healed a great deal of the damage done to his relationship with our family simply by how we've treated Cyrna. He's quite the loyal friend from what I've seen. Not like that Weasley boy, running off like that! The nerve!" Lucius paused, horror crossing his face. "You don't think…"

Narcissa pulled slightly away from her husband and tried to determine what the problem was. "What don't I think Lucius?" she prompted.

"What if that horrible Weasley boy is her mate?" Lucius whispered. "What would she do? He's mad at her now, but they spent years as very close friends, maybe they were drawn to each other because they're mates!"

"Hush dear," Narcissa soothed. "Cyrna would have known if he was her mate, and she would have told us. I'm sure they were only friends. In fact, I think that Harry may have been drawn to her because she smelled similar to Draco, and Draco rather ruined his chances of Harry wanting to be around him with his attitude, necessary though it may have been." She rubbed circles on his back until his breathing returned to normal. "Now, I think that your over reaction is because we are exhausted both mentally and physically. Let's get some rest. The house elves will wake us if the children stir."

Lucius nodded slowly, and allowed his wife to lead him to their bedroom. It had certainly been one very long day.

Harry woke slowly, immensely enjoying the absence of pain. He couldn't really remember anything from the night before, only the pain, and then something that had soothed said pain away. 'Hmm… I wonder if I had another mate-related back pain last night. If so, my mate must be getting close to their birthday because last night was certainly worse than before.'

Yawning, Harry attempted to stretch, and realized that he couldn't move anywhere. Startled, Harry opened his eyes, meeting only darkness. 'What the bloody hell is going on!' He thought. 'Why is it so dark? And… wait a minute, are those FEATHERS!' Harry was almost screaming mentally. He began struggling against the force holding him down.

"unh…" a voice groaned, heavy from sleep. "Stop moving around, I want to sleep s'more." Harry found himself squeezed tighter into the embrace of his 'captor'.

'Ok… lets go through the basic facts of my current situation. I'm being held very tightly by some unidentified man, I'm completely covered by what appear to be said man's black wings, and last night I had a "mate attack". So, its probably safe to say that whoever is holding me is my mate, I mean, who else would it be? Therefore, the all important question is: WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!' Harry sighed, despite his confusion, he was warm and comfortable. He didn't really want to leave, he simply wanted to understand.

'I was at Cyrna's birthday party, and I was looking for her. Dobby came up to me and said I had to come because she needed me. It was around this point, or perhaps a while before that my back started hurting. Hmmm… Dobby brought me to the Malfoy's rooms, but I only say Lucius and Narcissa… I think I remember hearing Cyrna's screams, and then something about Narcissa telling me they were all veela, and that… Oh Merlin!'

"Umm… Draco, would you mind letting go of me?" Harry asked quietly, pushing at the blonde's arm.

"Actually, I do mind, you're not going anywhere." Draco growled softly, again tightening his grip.

"Draco, I really think you should let me go, I don't even know where we are! Someone could come in!" Harry argued, clearly _not_ whining despite what others might say.

Anything further that either boy may have said was cut off as Harry was proved correct. Someone was indeed entering the room. "Draco, Harry, I believe that you have both had a sufficient amount of time to recover from the effects of last night, and it is time for a family discussion." Lucius' voice echoed through the room before he left again. Harry shivered, Lucius didn't sound too angry, but he knew that he couldn't be too thrilled with the fact that his son was in bed with a boy.

Harry again attempted to wiggle of Draco's arms, and this time was released. He hastily shut his eyes as Draco took his wings down and shivered. He hadn't realized how warm and dark a cocoon those wings made, especially since he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Draco? Where is my shirt?" Harry asked, embarrassed that he didn't even know when it had been taken off.

Draco smiled at Harry, who looked quite gorgeous without a shirt, especially with his wings out. "Harry, it might be kind of difficult for you to where a shirt with your wings out."

Harry blinked in surprise, and then glanced behind him at the beautiful green wings. They were quite small and definitively answered the question as to whether he was dominant or submissive. "I guess I'm definitely a sub then," he whispered.

Draco shook his head and looked back at his own impressive wings. "And I'd say I'm definitely a dominant, so we're good." Harry gave a small smile, and Draco could tell that his mate was embarrassed that he was the 'girl' in the relationship. "Do you know how to get them to go away?" He asked gently.

"It's supposed to be simple from what I've read." Harry replied thoughtfully. "You just will them away, they're a part of you now, so you should be able to control them by thought." Harry closed his eyes in concentration, feeling out his wings as he would his arms or legs. He folded them carefully into his back and upon inspection, smiled over at Draco, who was watching him with his wings still unfurled.

"How did you do that so easily?' Draco asked, somewhat miffed.

"Cause it was easy. You just feel them out and pull them back in. It seems weird, but you have to remember that you're part magical creature, and the wings are basically just physical representations of the magical part of you. Magic takes them away even when it defies the laws of physics." Harry was glad that he had read so much on the subject. His understanding of the theories had greatly helped him with a great many of the aspects of his vampirism.

Draco tried, he really did, but no amount of imagining the wings away worked. "Maybe its different for veela," he growled.

Harry shrugged, "It probably is." He pulled on a shirt. "I guess you're just going to have to go out there without a shirt then." He headed to the door, but Draco was immediately at his side. Arms and wings wrapped around him protectively.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, confused out of his mind. "We have to go explain things to your parents."

Draco growled, "You aren't going out there unprotected! Anyone could hurt you."

"Draco, I highly doubt your parents are that angry at us for being in bed together, especially since it seems like we're mates and all. They won't hurt me, you can let go." Harry sighed, hoping that Draco would release him.

"Mine!" Draco insisted, picking Harry up bridal style, while still shielding him with his expansive wings. How Draco managed to open the door while carrying him, Harry didn't know, shielded from the world as he was, but nevertheless they did make it to the common area.

"Draco!" Lucius' voice scolded. "Harry will be fine if you let him out of your wings. I'm sure he's very confused as to your behavior."

Draco growled, but Harry replied, "please Draco, just let me out. I'm safe here, and you'll be right next to me." 'Bloody over protective veela just coming into their inheritances.' Harry thought, somewhat irritated.

Reluctantly, Draco let his wings down and allowed Harry to stand, but he would not allow Harry to leave the circle of his arms. "I suppose this is better than nothing,' Harry thought, unconsciously leaning back into Draco's chest.

"Um, Mr. Malfoy, I really am sorry that I ended up spending the night with your son. I don't know what happened to tell you the truth, I-"

"Harry you have nothing to worry about. We brought you to Draco in the first place, and Narcissa gave you a Dreamless Sleep potion after she healed your back, so there was no way you could have left." Lucius replied kindly. "And its Lucius, you are my son's mate after all. You're family, no need for formalities."

"Thanks… Lucius. If you don't mind me asking though, where is Cyrna? Is she ok?" Harry asked.

"She's quite fine, Harry. Narcissa is getting her now, and showing her how to put her wings away. Something you seemed to have mastered on your own." Lucius noted with some surprise. He had expected to have to teach both boys how to control their wings.

"Oh, err I did a lot of reading when I found out I was a vampire. I read all the theory on how to do everything, it really helped. It didn't work for Draco though." Harry answered.

"I don't suppose that it would work. I doubt very much that Draco actually wants to put his wings away." Lucius answered.

"Why wouldn't he? As much as I love my wings, I don't want them out all of the time, and its bloody cold without a shirt on." Harry said, blushing slightly as he realized that he had just sworn in front of his mate's father.

"One of the main functions of wings for a dominant is to protect their mate, and as we saw from that little display earlier, Draco here is rather overprotective." Lucius laughed.

Draco growled at his father in a way that distinctly implied, 'I'm not overprotective' and extended his wings to partially cover Harry, thus proving himself wrong.

"Draco!" Harry whined. "I'm fine, let me go!" Harry didn't know why he was fighting so much, being hidden by Draco's wings felt good, but some part of him insisted that he was independent and didn't need to be protected by anyone.

"I think you're fighting a battle that you cannot win Harry. He has only had his mate for a day, it will take him a while to come back to his human senses. He's bound to be extremely overprotective during that time. Though, now that I think of it, he is my son, so he's bound to be rather overprotective after that as well, but hopefully it will die down enough for him to retract his wings." Lucius said, clearly finding the situation highly amusing.

Cyrna woke to the gentle voice of her mother. "Cyrna darling, its time to wake up."

Blinking against the light, Cyrna obeyed. She flexed her wings experimentally, and was surprised to find that there was no pain. Sitting up slowly, she stretched in a manner similar to a cat and extended her wings out as far as possible. She sighed in relief as she stretched out the tension that had been lurking in places she hadn't realized that she had.

Narcissa smiled warmly at her daughter. "Your wings are simply beautiful Cyrna. I'm glad we chose that light blue for your Kiangion now, they look marvelous together." Cyrna smirked. She had had to practically beg her mother to get her Kiangion in light blue. They had wanted her to get some Slytherin green for the special robes, but she had insisted on her favorite color, knowing how important the robes could be. These robes allowed her wings to extended through without ripping the material, and according to tradition, each Veela female had a special one that they would wear the night of their transformation.

"Not that I don't love my wings, but how do I get them to go away? They aren't going to be very comfortable for sitting or laying down." Cyrna asked,

"It sounds odd, but you really do just image them away. Feel them out and pull them back inside of you, well, magically speaking, you don't physically pull them back into your body." Cyrna nodded in response, closing her eyes in concentration. Narcissa was quite pleased when the wings disappeared almost immediately.

"You're lucky darling, I'm sure Draco hasn't managed to retract his wings as of yet, since his mate is nearby. A dominant uses his wings to protect the submissive, so those wings are going to be around for quite a while." Narcissa laughed. After Draco's behavior last night she would be surprised if he eve managed to put his wings away.

"So I was right? Is Harry here now?" Cyrna asked, hopeful that her friend's search for a mate was over.

"You were correct, and Harry and Draco are most likely waiting for us with your father. We need to have a family discussion." Narcissa answered.

"Then I'll just go freshen up a bit before joining everyone," Cyrna said, "Wouldn't want to appear as anything less then perfect in front of my brother's mate," she smirked.

Cyrna headed into the adjoining bathroom as Narcissa made her way into the common room.

She laughed as she entered. The sight before her was quite hilarious. Her son had extended his large black wings around his mate and had his arms wrapped protectively around his waste. She could barely see Harry's face, but from what she could tell he was quite indignant at the thought of being protected. Lucius was barely stopping himself from right out laughing at his son, though she remembered that Lucius had been little better when he had claimed her.

"Why don't we all just sit down?" Narcissa suggested. "Cyrna will be out in a minute, she just wanted to clean up a bit before she saw everyone." Still smiling, she sat down on the couch, Lucius taking his place beside her. Both shook their heads as Draco examined the room for the safest place to sit with his mate. He finally decided on a rather large armchair facing the couch, shuffling both himself and Harry over. He whipped his wings out over the sides and sat, pulling a startled Harry into his lap.

"Draco, I'm perfectly capable of sitting on my own!" Harry cried indignantly.

"You're safer sitting with me," Draco insisted, holding Harry close to his chest. Harry sighed in defeat and snuggled closer. As much as he hated to admit it, he liked being protected by someone else for once instead of being the one to do the protecting.

Cyrna walked cautiously out of her room, inspecting the scene before her. Her brother and her best friend, cuddling with each other in one of the large armchairs, and her parents sitting on the couch and apparently trying very hard not to laugh at the boys judging by the strained looks on their faces. She sighed quietly. 'I'm the only one here who doesn't know who their mate is…' she thought dejectedly.

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear the depression, Cyrna headed over and sat down in the chair next to Draco, similarly facing the couch that her parents were sitting on.

Lucius smiled at his daughter. "Cyrna, I want to thank you for warning us last night about Harry. Things could have been worse for both of the boys if you hadn't interfered."

Cyrna blushed slightly, "The fact that we were so rushed trying to find Harry was my fault. I've known for a couple of days really. We could have sorted everything out ahead of time."

"Still Cyr," Harry cut in, "I don't even want to think about what would have happened if I'd gone through my transformation down in the Great Hall in front of all of those people. I'm glad that you cared enough to remember even though you were in pain too." He smiled genuinely at her as he was tugged even closer to Draco, who was growling again. "Oh hush you! Its not like I was actually down there! You can't get protective over a past event, that's just not fair!" Harry whined.

"He's right Draco," Lucius replied in Harry's defense, before continuing with a smirk, "besides, he's Harry Potter, then you'd have to get protective over all the attempts on his life. How many were there again? Lets see, there was that one as a baby, then that one in first year with Quirrel, and second year of course, and well, just about every year something happens. Not to mention how he had a Dark Lord out to kill him."

"Lucius! I can't believe you provoked your son like that!" Narcissa hissed. "Now look at him!" Draco had once again wrapped his wings in a very uncomfortable looking position around Harry, who had disappeared completely, seemingly folded into the veela's lap. Draco was growling over the top of his wings and glaring at the occupants of the room.

"Draco! All that is in the past!" Harry said softly but firmly. "I'm safe now, I promise. I'll tell you if I'm in danger and I want to be protected. You can't protect me from my memories." He whispered. He reached up and lightly stroked Draco's cheek, hoping that the gesture would calm him down. Luckily it worked far better than expected. Draco relaxed into the touch, rubbing his face against the hand. His wings fell down, re-exposing Harry to the room, and his growling became rather faint purring. Harry nuzzled into his neck, rejoicing at the feel of his mate. "I guess I know how to calm you down." Harry whispered into Draco's ear.

Draco shivered. He loved Harry, he had known even before his inheritance that there was something between them, but with his human side agreeing with the basic instincts of his veela side, he was losing the battle and throwing himself into his relationship with Harry. His mate.

Lucius cleared his throat loudly. "I believe that it is time to start our little family meeting." All four of the others in the room respectfully turned their attention to Lucius. "It seems that our family is going to be quite busy in the coming months. We need to make sure that Draco and Harry are bonded before Sanguine Season. There will have to be a proper wedding before the bonding, as is tradition. Narcissa, I believe that you would be best suited to take over the wedding plans, if you would be so kind?" Lucius asked politely.

"Of course Lucius," Narcissa replied, smiling evilly at her son and his mate. This was going to be fun!

"And of course, we'll have to begin the search for Cyrna's mate. It is important that we find him as soon as possible, though once we do we'll have another wedding to plan." Lucius sighed. "Cyrna, I love you, but if you're mate isn't a bloody normal human I'll be furious! We don't need another rushed wedding because you pulled a 'Draco' and chose a mate with magical creature blood who just happens to have a mating season that they go crazy for their mate in!"

"Don't worry Father, I'm sure he'll be a normal wizard. After all, the only reason Harry is Draco's mate is because he had to fulfill the requirements of being the Boy-Who-Everything-Seems-to Bloody-Happen-to and not only be a vampire, but a submissive one with a veela mate. What's that Harry? Like a one-in-a-trillion chance?" Cyrna smirked in reply.

Harry continued stroking Draco's cheek. It seemed that Draco had greatly calmed down for a few minutes ago a comment like that about his precious mate would have sent him off his rocker, joke or no joke. "You're both lucky that I've figured out the secret to keeping him from attacking people. Though if you continue to make fun of the charming nickname that the wizarding world has christened me with I may stop doing so." Harry joked back.

Draco smiled at his mate. He could slowly feel his human senses returning to him. He knew that even though his father and sister were making fun of his Harry they wouldn't intentionally harm him, even if they were only doing it with words. It helped that Harry was so close, and was still touching him. Draco leaned into Harry's hand, purring again, though he refused to admit that he was. Malfoy's did not purr!

Narcissa turned her gaze back to her son. "Now boys, you are not to do anything even remotely close to bonding until AFTER the wedding. Is that clear? We don't need Harry getting pregnant before the two of you are properly married."

Harry blushed a bit, but nodded. He wasn't too sure how he felt about bonding right away anyway. He knew that his vampire side needed the bond, and was in fact demanding that he bond right now, but the urge was quite easy to put aside because of his fear. He knew what bonding meant to a vampire. Well, at least a vampire who had inherited his attributes. He hadn't needed to drink blood yet, though he did have a mild craving for it, but once he was bonded, the craving and the sheer need for it would come in full force. He would need blood to survive, and the blood that he would need would be that of his mate. He wouldn't need a great deal, simply a taste of it every day, the larger the amount the longer he could last without it again. It all seemed simple enough, but still he was scared of what it would mean. He would finally have to admit that his entire life was different, and he wasn't prepared to. 'I'll come to terms with it by the wedding,' he promised himself. 'And I'll find some way to hold Draco off from bonding until then,' he continued, somewhat amused. Draco was eyeing him with lust-filled eyes.

Narcissa must have noticed this as well because she admonished, "Draco! Did you hear me?" Which finally succeeded in bringing a response from Draco who growled deeply.

"Yes, I heard you, and I'll agree, but I'm not happy about it." he nuzzled against Harry. He had hoped that his parents wouldn't directly forbid them to bond before the wedding. He knew that he couldn't go against his mother's wishes, he'd been on the receiving end of her disapproval before. He shuddered deeply, he definitely didn't want to go through _that_ again.

Lucius watched his son shudder, and couldn't help but agree with him. Narcissa in a temper was not something that one wanted to have to deal with. He knew, unfortunately, from a great deal of first hand experience. "Now that the boys are settled with that decision, the same goes for you Cyrna. If you find you mate you are forbidden to bond till after the proper wedding, should he agree to the bond."

Cyrna nodded. "How will I find him though?" She asked, unable to keep the despair out of her voice.

"For the submissive veela it's a scent thing. He'll smell like the most heavenly thing on earth, and all you'll want to do is throw yourself into his arms and stay there forever. There's a deep attraction that you simply can't ignore. It overpowers you completely, but in such a way that you're begging for more." Narcissa answered, smiling faintly at her husband as she did so. "Trust me, you'll know who it is."

Everything was moving so quickly and yet not fast enough. All she really wanted was to find her mate, but it seemed as all of the other stuff was taking precedence to her real desire. She had only known that she was Malfoy for three days, and already she was talking about getting married. There really wasn't anyway around the wedding, or at least the bonding, but she couldn't help but be nervous. Despite her family's optimism her mate could be someone who didn't want to marry her. 'Relax, you've read the books on mates before for Harry. Stop being so sill about everything! Mates are destined for each other! And its not a one way street. They'll want me too, and if they're reluctant at first, then that's what the veela charm is for.'

As if her father was reading her mind he said, "You'll both have to practice with the veela charm. Draco should be fine for the most part, as he already has his mate and won't have to use the charm to draw his mate to him, but Cyrna you'll have to be very careful. Until you find your mate the charm will try to run wild, drawing everyone to you so you can, er, inspect them to see if they are your mate. Once you determine who that is however the charm will simply direct itself towards them. Its going to be very dangerous for you until you find out who your mate is." Lucius looked at her sternly, trying to convey how important it was that her control of her powers not slip. "If you let too much of the charm loose in desperation you'll have half of the student body attacking you for a rather unpleasant reason, at least for you."

Cyrna gulped. Having all of the boys in the school attempting to rape her was not exactly her idea of a fun day. She could already sense her charm. It was similar to the way she could sense her wings, and it had almost a physical presence. It was almost as if there was a remote control for it in her head, and she could turn it on or off at will, adjusting the level. She chuckled silently to herself, the one good thing about being a magical creature was the magical instincts that told you how to do the things inherent to your nature.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I understand how to use it."

Lucius nodded. "Still, I want the entire family with you the first time you leave these rooms. There's no reason to tempt fate, we'll make sure you can keep the charm off before we leave you alone." The rest of the family nodded their agreement, and though she felt somewhat babied, Cyrna knew it was for the best. Images of being jumped by Crabbe or Goyle flooding through her head. 'I'm not going to complain about who my mate is at all as long as it isn't one of them!' she shrieked to herself. 'I need to work on this whole vivid imagination thing… its definitely causing some problems.'

Cyrna's thoughts were disrupted by a knock at the portrait hole. Draco immediately began growling and hid Harry behind his wings again. "Maybe its not the best idea to let anyone in here right now," she giggled.

Narcissa and Lucius had both moved to the portrait and opened it despite her warning. "Hello Professor Dumbledore," Narcissa said politely.

"Good morning Mrs. Malfoy, I trust last night went all right."

"Yes, everything was fine. Won't you come in and have a seat?" Narcissa ushered him into the room and lead him to an arm chair between the couch and the other two occupied chairs.

Dumbledore looked rather amused as he saw Draco with his wings still unfurled. "Hello Draco, I would have thought you would have put your wings away by now. I've been told its rather easy to do so." Dumbledore said kindly.

Draco's wings moved somewhat tighter around Harry, who was completely hidden from sight. He glared at the Headmaster and growled low in his throat.

Harry called loudly in an attempt to make himself heard, "He's only doing this because I'm here. Just assure him that you won't harm me so I can calm him down again, its not working right now."

Cyrna smirked. She had never seen Dumbledore so surprised. She had always thought of him as being rather omniscient, but he seemed to have no clue that Harry was Draco's mate at all.

"Oh, of course my dear boy." He finally managed to splutter. "Draco, I promise that I will not hurt Harry in any way if you take your wings down. He's quite safe here."

Draco loosened his hold somewhat, and Harry used that opportunity to stroke his cheek again, whispering reassuring words to let Draco know that he was alright. Slowly, Draco's wings went down again, revealing a smiling Harry to the room.

"Hello professor. What brings you here this morning?" Harry asked rather sheepishly.

"I came to make sure that everything went as expected with Cyrna and Draco's transformations. It seems there were a few surprises then?" Dumbledore asked, raising an eyebrow.

Cyrna blushed slightly then answered, "Ever since Harry found out that he was a vampire, we've all been on the look out for his mate. I noticed how he was behaving towards Draco, always watching him, and Draco was the same. It was really quite obvious that they were mates. I admit that I was looking forward to their reactions, and I overlooked the practical aspects of the situation. I didn't realize that Harry would be going through his transformation at the same time as Draco and I until we were already back here and the process had started. I figured that it probably wouldn't be a good idea for Harry to transform down in the Great Hall with all those people so I informed my family and they were able to get Harry up here in time."

"And as you can see, Draco is the dominant in the relationship and quite possessive and protective of Harry." Lucius finished, smirk firmly in place.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled brightly. "This certainly is a wonderful surprise. I'm sure the transformation was much easier for both of you since you were together."

Harry smiled, "I believe it was. I don't really remember a lot of it, but whatever happened, Draco at least got me through it alive."

Dumbledore turned back to Cyrna. "Do you have any idea who your mate might be?"

"No, not at all. I haven't gotten the chance to leave these rooms, and I wasn't drawn to anyone before now. Maybe I haven't met my mate at all yet." She mused.

Lucius cut in on her thoughts. "Its almost breakfast time now, perhaps now would be a good time to expose you to the rest of the school. That is if Draco thinks that he can compose himself enough to let go of Harry."

All eyes in the room turned to Draco and Harry, both of whom were looking at each other and completely oblivious to all the attention.

"Draco, do you think you can put your wings away now?" Narcissa asked softly.

Harry gave him an encouraging look and Draco let out a long suffering sigh. "I suppose I could try." He closed his eyes, concentrating on the fact that his Harry was safe, and still in his arms. He willed the wings away quickly and was rewarded with a hug from Harry.

"I knew you could do it," he whispered in Draco's ear.

"Wonderful!" Dumbledore called, eyes twinkling. "I shall see you all at breakfast," he said politely, leaving the family alone.

Narcissa smiled at her family, "Why don't we all get dressed and meet back here to go down in a half hour?" Seeing the nods of acceptance, she grabbed her husband's hand and led him out of the room.

Harry squirmed out of Draco's lap and grinned. "We better get going, can't go to breakfast without a shirt on!" Harry and Draco quickly exited the room. Cyrna shook her head. She wanted the closeness her parents and brother had with their mates. They all seemed so happy. 'I hope that I find my mate today…. Wait a second! I could find my mate now! They could be down there waiting for me!' With that happy thought, Cyrna headed to her room to get dressed as well.

A half hour later found the happy family heading down from their quarters to the Great Hall for breakfast. Draco's arms were firmly wrapped around Harry's waist, though thankfully his wings were still retracted. Cyrna was wearing a robe similar to the Kiangion, though it lacked the ceremonial importance of her actual Kiangion. If she did indeed find her mate at breakfast there was a good chance that she would lose control of her wings, and she really had no desire to have her clothes ripped off in front of the rest of the school.

Cyrna followed her family as they made their way over to the Slytherin table to sit down. The hall was as noisy as usual, and everything seemed quite normal. Most of the school was in attendance, despite the fact that it was somewhat late in the morning. It was, after all, Saturday and most of the school tended to eat later.

She willed herself not to immediately stare at everyone in the hall, instead taking calming breaths before inhaling deeply. She searched the air for the scent of her mate, desperately hoping that… 'Oh Merlin! I smell him, my mate! He's here!' She looked up, following the direction the smell seemed to be coming from/ Her eyes locked with him. She knew he was her mate. She wanted to run to him, throw herself into his arms.

She felt herself beginning to stand up.

"Cyrna, what's wrong? Sit back down!" Lucius hissed quietly, not wanting to make a scene in front of the entire school.

"My mate." She said quietly. "He's here, and I know who he is."

A/N::cackles: Why must I stop it here? Because I'm evil, and because this chapter is like 7,500 words long, which is about 15 pages, lol. Its my longest chapter ever, and it led to quite a nice little cliff hanger if I do say so myself. I find myself at a bit of a cross roads though. I never really decided who to have as Cyrna's mate… the other part of the reason why I stopped right there, so all of you lovely readers can leave a review with votes as to who you want her mate to be. I'll pick whichever one gets the most answers, though I do have two limits: One, it cannot be Ron, I've already thrown out that possibility, and Two, it has to be a guy. I state quite specifically that her mate is male, so you'll all have to deal with it! Lol, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to review!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Not Mine!

Last Chapter:

Cyrna followed her family as they made their way over to the Slytherin table to sit down. The hall was as noisy as usual, and everything seemed quite normal. Most of the school was in attendance, despite the fact that it was somewhat late in the morning. It was, after all, Saturday and most of the school tended to eat later.

She willed herself not to immediately stare at everyone in the hall, instead taking calming breaths before inhaling deeply. She searched the air for the scent of her mate, desperately hoping that… 'Oh Merlin! I smell him, my mate! He's here!' She looked up, following the direction the smell seemed to be coming from. Her eyes locked with him. She knew he was her mate. She wanted to run to him, throw herself into his arms.

She felt herself beginning to stand up.

"Cyrna, what's wrong? Sit back down!" Lucius hissed quietly, not wanting to make a scene in front of the entire school.

"My mate." She said quietly. "He's here, and I know who he is."

Cyrna was staring at one particular spot in the Great Hall, her eyes never wavering. Her father now held her arm, forcing her to remain in her seat.

Harry followed the direction of Cyrna's gaze, wondering who it was that was making her act this way. She looked desperate, almost on the verge of tears at being held away from her mate, and she had only ever been strong before.

He gasped as he saw who she was looking at. This was not good. "Cyrna, you can't go to him here. Trust me, it will NOT make him happy if you throw yourself at him in front of everyone. Lets just get you out of here, you can go to him later." Harry said quietly, urgency filling his voice. Draco tightened his hold around Harry's waist, unconsciously wanting to protect him from every bad emotion.

Cyrna reluctantly ripped her gaze away. She didn't want to admit it but Harry was right. The Great Hall was no place for the conversation that she was going to have to have.

"Lets just get you out of here, ok?" Harry suggested, pulling out of Draco's grasp and helping Cyrna up. Draco growled quietly, but Harry shot him a warning glance and lead his friend out of the hall. Right now she needed his help, and he intended to give it to her. Neither of the two noticed who happened to be staring at Cyrna as she fled the room, shock and happiness written across his face.

Lucius and Narcissa turned confused eyes to each other. "Who was she looking at? I didn't see." Narcissa asked.

Lucius shook his head. "I didn't see either. I was paying more attention to our daughter. I certainly didn't expect her to react so strongly as soon as we sat down. To be quite honest, I didn't expect her to notice anything today at all." He sighed. "I guess Harry is the only one besides Cyrna who knows." He shot a glance at Draco, who was glaring at the doors out of the hall. "I'm guessing our son here was too preoccupied to see who she was looking at. And even if he had, there is a chance that she mistook her mate if he was sitting too closely to someone else."

Narcissa nodded her agreement. "Lets go try and find them. If Cyrna can't approach her mate herself, it must be someone they feel doesn't like her, or someone they don't think we will approve of." The three remaining Malfoys hurried out of the hall, but Lucius couldn't help but silently vow that neither situation would arise for his daughter. No matter who her mate was, they would accept her, and he would in turn accept her mate. Everything would be perfect for the daughter that he had so far failed so miserably. A Malfoy never failed, and he was going to make up for this near miss if it was the last thing he did.

"I'm so dead Harry! How am I supposed to convince him to bond with me! He's my godfather now, and my teacher, he's going to _hate_ me for this! My mate will hate me!" Cyrna whimpered rather pathetically.

"Cyr, it'll be ok. If anyone can convince Snape to bond with them its you. And you have very good reasons why he should." Harry said reasonably.

"But what on earth do I tell him! He's my father's best friend and my god father!" She asked hysterically.

"Well, he may be your father's best friend and you god father, but you haven't known him in that capacity. You've always been just another student, and you've always defended him and said he was a good teacher." Harry grimaced. There was no way in hell that he thought Snape was a good teacher, but Cyrna needed his reassurance right now, so he'd give it to her as much as possible. "He's not really your godfather now so there's no reason why he can't say yes. Besides Cyr, its not like he has a choice. Remember what you know about mates? Its not like he's only your soul mate, you're his too. He needs you just as you need him. Neither of you could be happy without the other. Remind him of that, explain the nature of veelas and soul mates to him and he can't say no. You can do it Cyr."

Cyrna nodded sadly, slowly getting herself back under control, but before she could respond she was interrupted.

"Who won't be able t say no?" Lucius asked sternly. "And I want an answer now. We need to know if you want us to help you." Cyrna gulped. As bad as she knew Snape would take this news, Lucius was going to be ten times worse.

"Mr. Malfoy? Maybe it would be better if you let her think about things a little first." Harry suggested quietly as a desperate looking Draco ran to his side and wrapped his arms around Harry's waist.

"Why wouldn't she want to tell us? Who is it?" Narcissa asked, worried. What if it was that dreadful Ron boy after all.

"She just needs-" Harry began, only to be cut off by Cyrna.

"No, its ok Harry. They do need to know." She took a deep breath. "Mother, Father, my mate is Severus Snape." 'There,' she thought, 'nice and blunt, get everything out in the open right away.'

Narcissa gasped and Lucius looked deeply disturbed. "Did you just say that your soul mate is Severus SNAPE! As in my best friend and your godfather!" Lucius practically bellowed.

Cyrna nodded meekly.

"But he's my age! He could be your father!" Lucius yelled.

Narcissa seemed to have collected herself a little, for she glared at Lucius. "If Cyrna's mate is Severus we will simply have to deal with it. We can't change the situation, however unfortunate it may be. Cyrna didn't choose her mate, they are simply meant for each other. Really, Lucius you know that!" She chided.

"Darling, if Severus is truly your mate we shall do everything we can to help you." Narcissa continued, though the 'you're going to need it' was heard in the room as if she had said it out loud rather than in her head.

"Thanks Mother. I- I know this can't be the most pleasant situation for you. And I'm sorry." Cyrna said, lowering her eyes. Narcissa immediately swept over and gathered the distraught girl in her arms. Tears came to Cyrna's eyes as her mother attempted to comfort her. Narcissa threw a dirty look at Lucius, who promptly cleared his throat.

"Yes, of course. It truly doesn't matter who your mate is. We'll help you no matter what." He spoke somewhat stiffly, but Narcissa gave him an approving look and he relaxed. He had no desire to be in the dog house.

"Darling, what are you going to do about Severus? We should create a battle plan." Narcissa asked softly.

"I haven't really thought about it yet. I didn't know what I'd do no matter who it was though, but this makes it harder." Cyrna answered, sniffling slightly.

"Maybe you should just ask if you can talk to him after classes. Make sure he doesn't have to deal with victims, er, students directly after." Harry suggested.

Cyrna glared at him fiercely, and he hastened to fix his slip up. "It'd be a lot for anyone to deal with, he'll need time to think about it without interruptions." Harry said quickly. Cyrna appeared slightly mollified, but Lucius could not help but smirk at her reaction. Veela were notoriously protective of their mates (as Draco was so wonderfully demonstrating) and would often become angry at the first perceived slight, even if it was only spoken.

Draco spoke at last, "Perhaps it would be better if Father spoke with him first, or if the whole family was there. Uncle Sev won't want to go against Lucius, they are best friends, so if he knows Lucius already approves things might go better." Lucius nodded slowly, amazed that Draco was able to think so clearly after finding his mate, especially as he had been unable of coherent thought since he had woken up.

"We should let him know that if he were to agree to the bond we would accept him with open arms." Narcissa began, before fixing a stern look on her husband, "But we need to make sure he doesn't feel pressured by the two of us. He has to know that this is his decision. At least on the surface." Lucius began to protest, but Narcissa held up her hand and continued. "I have no intention of letting our daughter die, Lucius. We will make sure that he bonds with her, and soon, but he needs to think he came to that decision on his own. You know how stubborn he is." Lucius gave a slight nod, acknowledging that she was correct.

"We shall speak to him after he has finished with breakfast, and let him know our stance on the situation. Knowing Severus, even if we tell him it is his decision whether or not he bonds with Cyrna he will realize he has little choice. If he does not bond with her she will die and he will as well. I will NOT let the man who killed my daughter live." Lucius growled.

Cyrna could not help but blush. Lucius was so protective of her and they had just found her. She knew it wasn't easy for him to accept the bond, as it was his best friend, but he was now insisting on it. 'I know that veela's are protective of their mates… but what did I read about children…' Cyrna struggled with the memory, she could almost see the words on the page in that book on magical creatures… what had it said? 'Oh, that's it!' She realized. 'It said that veela are incredibly protective and possessive of their mates but are even more protective of their children. They refuse to let any harm come to them, and often spoil them as a result. Well, I guess that explains why they love me so much already. Its engrained into them. They couldn't not love me and protect me once they knew who I was.' Cyrna sighed. Things made a lot more sense now. She hadn't fully understood why she felt such a bond to her parents right away. From what she had read adopted children most often hated the parent who abandoned them, but she had loved hers right away, immediately becoming part of the family. The fact that her grandfather had been willing to get rid of her despite the fact that children meant so much to veela made her hate him even more. If that man wasn't already dead she would kill him herself.

"I think it might be a good idea if only Lucius went to talk to Snape at first, and then Cyrna went. If everyone goes he might feel kind of ambushed. This way it's a little more relaxed." Harry said. Draco's arms were still tight around him, and Draco was currently nuzzling into his neck. It was truly amazing how strong a veela's emotions for their mates were if Draco was anything to judge by. Harry knew that he should have felt smothered. Draco had barely let go of him since they had woken up, but instead he felt safe. He supposed this was due to his lovely submissive vampire genes, but he somehow couldn't bring himself to care that he was letting Draco protect him. He WANTED Draco to protect him, and he was no longer willing to fight for his independence.

Lucius nodded. "I think that would be best. Cyrna, you'll accompany me to his chambers, and I shall inform him of the situation and then allow the two of you to talk. I would recommend that you tell him some of the details of soul mates, as he may not know them. All though…" Lucius paused. There was something Severus had once said… something about never finding his mate, and how bitter it had made him once he realized he probably never would. After all it had been over a decade since… Lucius coughed, almost choking as he realized why exactly Severus had been looking for a mate.

"What is it, Lucius?" Narcissa asked worriedly.

"I just remember a rather disturbing conversation that I had with Severus many years ago. I cannot believe I forgot something so important!" Lucius spat, angry at himself for not remembering such a major detail of his friend's life.

"What is it? He doesn't already have a mate does he?" Cyrna asked worriedly, wrapping her arms around herself. As the tension increased in the room, Draco tightened his hold on Harry. He did not like how helpless he felt to protect Harry from emotional danger. Physical danger was hard enough to protect him from, but did everyone have to be so dramatic? He couldn't save Harry from that!

"Shh, Cyrna, its not that. In fact, I think it may be a good thing for you. He won't be able to say no to you at all. He's been looking for you since he turned 16." Lucius attempted to soothe Cyrna, drawing her into a hug.

"What do you mean?" Cyrna asked, pulling away, eyes wide. Severus had been looking for her? But that would mean…

"He's a Dark Elf. I simply cannot believe that I forgot that. He was… upset… when he could not find his mate all of those years ago. I dare say it is what has made him so bitter to the students over the years. Dark Elves are even more dependent on their mates than veela. They feed off of the emotions of their mates, positive emotions allowing them happiness and negative emotions forcing them to protect their mate. With no emotions to feed from, Severus has become rather apathetic about emotions in general, especially those of others. Its what made him such a good spy against the Dark Lord."

Thoughts were swirling through Cyrna's head. 'He'll want me then. No matter what. He'll love me.' She couldn't help but be elated by this news. Inside, she felt like dancing a jig.

Narcissa cast a quick tempus charm. "Lucius, Severus should be done with breakfast by now. Perhaps we should take her to him as quickly as possible. He will not thank us for keeping them apart any longer than necessary." Narcissa spoke quietly, but Lucius immediately agreed, having no desire to further anger his wife.

"Draco, if we allow you to take Harry back to your room alone, you must promise not to bond." Narcissa said sternly. Draco looked rather sullen at this news, but none the less he nodded, and gently guided Harry back to his family's rooms. He wanted to know what happened with his sister and her mate as soon as possible.

"Are you ready, Cyrna?" Lucius asked quietly.

"Yes!" Cyrna whispered fervently. Her father placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and the family headed out of the classroom that they had temporarily commandeered and towards the dungeons.

When they arrived at the portrait that Lucius knew lead to Severus' chambers (aptly a portrait of Salazar Slytherin) Lucius stepped in front of his daughter, hiding her from view, and prepared to knock. Before he could, however, the portrait was flung open.

"Where is she?" Severus demanded. He sniffed delicately. "I smell her. Where is she?" The quiet desperation in his voice startled Cyrna.

"I'm right here." She whispered. Lucius quickly stepped aside, not wanting to interfere. Severus swept her into his arms, never intending to let her go. All these years he had searched for her, never truly believing he would find his mate, and now she was in his arms.

"I just wish I had gotten to see you as a baby before you were taken away. Maybe then I would have had some hope that this day would come." Snape whispered, stroking her cheek. He could already feel the emotions flooding off of her. There was happiness, relief, attraction. He moaned slightly and nuzzled into her neck. He knew that he was not in the ideal situation, this was after all, a student and the daughter of his closest friend, but with the presence of the emotions he had always lacked he could not force himself to think rationally.

Finally, he was able to pull himself away, though he kept his arms around her waist. Lucius could not help but chuckle. At Severus' confused look he explained. "You reminded me of Draco. Earlier he would not let go of Harry at all, hiding him behind his wings. I suppose we should be grateful Dark Elves have no wings otherwise Cyrna would be behind them right now."

Severus' mouth opened in shock. "Draco and Potter?" He spluttered.

"Surely you noticed that Draco would not take his arms off of Harry at breakfast this morning?" Lucius asked dryly.

"No, I was rather preoccupied controlling myself after I caught a certain scent." Severus replied indignantly. "Though I must say the thought that Potter is a submissive is rather entertaining. I cannot wait to see that." he chuckled darkly.

"Not simply a submissive. A submissive vampire." Lucius smirked.

Severus gaped, inwardly of course, for he was far to composed to do anything so undignified as gaping. "But Sanguine Season is in a month!"

"Yes, Narcissa has her work cut out for her as we intend to see them married before they bond." Lucius replied, a small amused smile on his face at having shocked his friend to such an extent.

"Good luck with that. I doubt Draco will last a day without bonding. Where are they now anyway?" Severus asked curiously, having regained his composure.

"We let them return to their rooms under strict orders not to complete the bond." Narcissa answered.

"Are you kidding!" Severus exclaimed. "Its not as if Draco's mate is a human who will want to resist the bond! Potter has submissive instincts telling him he'll be safer with Draco, especially once they've bonded! If they're left alone together its almost certain they'll bond! And if that wasn't bad enough, Sanguine Season is in a month, and Potter must sense that he'll need his mate more than ever then! He might even want to feed from Draco, and once he's done that and completed the vampire side of the bond he'll be able to become pregnant with Draco's child naturally Sanguine Season or not! And I'm fairly certain that Potter doesn't realize vampires can get pregnant while not in heat, heat just makes it more likely!"

Abruptly, Severus stopped speaking. Wordlessly, he drew Cyrna further into his arms and stroked her cheek with one hand. He could feel the worry and fear rolling off of his mate, and the fact that it was his words that were affecting her so filled him with despair. "Its all right," he whispered in her ear, "we'll go get them before they do anything stupid."

Cyrna shivered as her mate's voice rolled over her ear. She really couldn't believe her luck. She had been imagining a difficult scene where she had had to beg Severus, explain to him the history of mates, and how important they were and why veela couldn't live without their mates, and here she was being comforted by her mate, held in his arms as he soothed her fears away.

"Severus is right." Lucius said sternly. "We need to get the boys right away. There is too much that can go wrong if they are left alone." With that, he turned on his heel and swept from the room, Narcissa close behind.

"I suppose we should follow them." Severus whispered. "Do you think you're up to it?" His voice was filled with tenderness. He could feel Cyrna's worries slipping away and being replaced by the love she already had for him, and Merlin it felt good! He had known his was missing something without those emotions to feed from, but he hadn't known he was missing THIS! It felt heavenly. Nothing was going to come between him and his mate.

Harry moaned as Draco licked at his neck. "Draco," he panted, "We promised not to bond. You need to stop." Draco's arms tightened their hold around Harry's waist. "Draco, I want this as much as you do, but we have to wait. Its only a month till we can be together. But I am not going to explain to your parents why we had sex before our wedding!"

Draco looked up at Harry, pulling away slightly. "Spoilsport," he grumbled.

"But you love me anyway," Harry teased.

"Mmm…" Draco agreed, pulling Harry into his lap as he sat up. "I can't seem to help myself. I liked you before the transformation, and now I simply can't help myself with all of these Veela hormones backing me up. I'm sure Father will understand if we completed the bond now." Draco purred seductively, one hand stroking Harry's cheek. Harry moaned appreciatively.

"Draco, we need to st-" Harry attempted to stop Draco, but found his lips covered in a determined kiss from the blonde veela. He soon lost himself in the wonderful kisses. Who was he to say no to his mate?

"Draco Malfoy! Stop that this instant!" An enraged voice yelled from the direction of the door. Harry quickly jumped away from Draco, staring at the door in horror. The entire Malfoy family, with the addition of Snape, were standing there. All looking quite upset, and for good reason. Harry's shirt was completely off and Draco's was already half unbuttoned. Love bites were quite apparent all across Harry's chest and on Draco's neck.

"What part of 'no bonding until the wedding' do you not understand?" Lucius asked quietly, in a tone of voice that had Harry shivering in fear.

"I… apologize Father," Draco said slowly, shaking his head to get rid of the lust that had clouded him since he had begun kissing his mate. "I'm not sure what happened. I simply… lost control, I supposes."

"Obviously," Snape snorted rather indelicately. Cyrna hid a chuckle, turning her head from the rest of the room until she regained control.

"And Harry, I thought you knew better!" Cyrna said mock sternly.

Harry smiled sheepishly as he pulled his shirt back on. "Draco was rather persuasive."

"I'm sure he was." Narcissa said gently. "But that does not excuse your actions, boys. If we cannot trust you to not bond, than we will not be able to leave you alone together."

Draco's eyes widened in fear, and he grabbed Harry's wrist and pulled him into the embrace of his arms, quickly whipping his wings out to hide him within their protective embrace.

"Draco! Honestly!" Lucius groaned. "We were not going to take him away from you! We will simply make sure that until the wedding you are not left alone. Calm down and release Harry. I can't imagine that he wants to be separated from his friend." Lucius kept his tone quiet and soothing, hoping to calm Draco, but his wings did not loosen.

"I see what you mean now Lucius. He is quite overprotective." Severus chuckled slightly, but failed to notice that he too had his mate wrapped in a protective embrace. Cyrna leaned back onto his chest and laughed inwardly. She understood why Harry allowed Draco to be so protective. It felt amazing to have someone care so much about your safety and happiness.

Harry turned in Draco's arms to face him. "Draco, its ok! They won't separate us. Neither of us will let them." He stroked Draco's chest and placed soft kisses on his neck. "Take your wings down, love, I want to see Cyrna."

Draco reluctantly lowered his wings, and slowly pulled them back in. "Sorry… I can't really control myself yet." He said softly, still holding Harry in his arms, and determined not to let him go.

"You'll get it eventually, dear. It certainly took your father a while to calm his instincts, but even he has managed it." Narcissa said, grinning at her husband.

Lucius smirked. "Though someone was a little disappointed when he did manage to do so." Narcissa mock glared at her husband, putting her hands on her hips.

"Fine. I guess someone else can just sleep on the couch tonight." She huffed as indignantly as was possible while trying to laugh at the same time.

"No!" Lucius said hastily. "I take it back!"

Narcissa pretended to consider this for a minute before replying, "If you are on your best behavior than perhaps I shall reconsider." Lucius nodded fervently, and the rest of the room burst out into laughter. The usually icy Lucius Malfoy, while always a normal person around the rest of his family, still never begged or conceded so easily in front of them.

Before Lucius could yell at the rest of the room's occupants, Narcissa quickly spoke up. "Darling, how about you, Sev, and I all go on a little walk. I'm sure Cyrna and Harry would like to talk."

"That sounds fine, love." Lucius replied. "There are a few details that I need to work out with Severus anyway." He turned to Cyrna. "You, young lady, are being left with an important responsibility. Those two," Lucius smirked, pointing at the two boys, still wrapped around each other, "are not to bond or be left alone in any fashion. Do you accept your mission?"

"Of course, Father," Cyrna smirked back. "I won't let anything happen between them."

"Good. Then we shall be on our way. Boys, behave." Lucius said sternly, before turning and offering his arm to his wife and heading to leave the room.

Severus turned Cyrna in his arms and planted a quick, chaste kiss on her lips. "I'll be back soon." he whispered. He didn't want to leave his mate, but he knew that he needed to regain control on himself. He never lost control in this manner. He never acted so disgustingly human, and emotional. 'I suppose I was never emotional before because I did not have me mate to feed from. Blast it! I'm going to have to work hard to maintain my image as a bastard…' Severus nodded at Harry and Draco and turned and followed Lucius and Narcissa out of the room.

"I guess it went well?" Harry asked teasingly.

"I suppose you could say that," Cyrna replied loftily, refusing to allow herself to blush. "He accepted the bond even faster than I had imagined. I… I can't describe how amazing it feels. This morning I felt so lost and alone, and now I have someone to love, to protect me. I won't say that I'm not surprised at my mate's identity, but I couldn't be happier. The veela in me knows how strong a man Severus is… I don't know how to explain it," she said, her face screwed up in confusion. It was so difficult to label the emotions that she was feeling.

"I think I understand actually," Harry said softly. "You just know that you're safe and that they can protect you, and could protect any family you might create," Harry blushed deeply.

"Unnh…" Draco groaned. "Harry can you not mention creating a family when we aren't allowed to bond? Its definitely not helping to prevent me from pouncing you."

"Sorry," Harry said, his blush intensifying. "I want to bond too," he whispered, wrapping his arms around Draco's waist. "You wouldn't believe how much. But we can't. Not yet." Harry whimpered softly, laying his head on Draco's shoulder, and letting the blond hold him.

"Harry, you have less than a month to wait! Everything will be fine!" Cyrna said sternly, in an attempt to reassure him. Harry turned slightly watery eyes to his best friend.

"I'm sorry! Its just… Sanguine Season is so soon… the vampire in me is so desperate to bond and make sure I'm safe before it comes. You have no idea how difficult it is to have to control these animal instincts!" Harry said loudly, almost yelling by the end.

Two blond-haired veela looked at him like he was insane. "Uh, Harry, love, think about who you're talking to." Draco said gently. "Everyone in my family is a veela, so we all get the 'must bond with mate and shag like bunnies' urge, and Severus is a Dark Elf, so he gets the urge for the mate too. Besides, didn't you know that almost every pureblood has some type of magical creature in their blood? Its one of the ways we keep our lines from dying out magically. I think the Weasley's may be the only pure blood wizarding family to not have some sort of creature inheritance. Didn't it seem a little strange that Snape just happens to be a creature with a need for a mate too?"

Harry stood, dumbstruck, staring at his mate. "So… everyone has to deal with this? How did I not know?"

"I'm not sure Harry," Cyrna answered, "but didn't you ever notice how young people married? Almost everyone is married by 17! That's not even legal by muggle standards, and yet its common practice for wizards because everyone wants to be married before they bond. You aren't the exception or 'freak' in this case. What you are only makes you more normal."

Harry started laughing, but his laughs quickly turned into small hiccupping sobs, causing the two Malfoys to look at him in concern. "I'm normal for once! I can't believe no one told me! I wouldn't have been so… I don't know, withdrawn, moody."

"That's right love. You're my normal little dark lord defeating mate." Draco said.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you Harry. I just assumed you knew I guess… the perils of being such a genius, you assume others around you have at least some measure of intelligence." Cyrna said lightly, sticking her nose up in the air in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Hey!" Harry said indignantly. "Its not my fault that I was raised by muggles and then didn't spend five years in the library in an attempt to catch up!"

"You just keep telling yourself that Harry. Whatever makes you feel better." She said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"I'm going to get you for that Malfoy!" Harry teased, glaring at his friend.

"I'm sure you will, Harry." Cyrna replied soothingly, as if she were speaking to a small child. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get a book and read." She glanced over at the two boys, who were still holding on to each other and sending each other looks which radiated 'let's have sex'. "On second thought, why don't you come with me?" She asked, before reaching over and grabbing each other their arm's and dragging them out of the room. There was no way she was going to let them bond and face Lucius' wrath. She wasn't a Malfoy for nothing, and she knew how to protect herself.


End file.
